Lerato Thubakgale of Weltevreden Park writes:
So Jackie Selebi is dead and suddenly he is a hero. Do we as South Africans forget that easily. I mean this is the man who held the highest rank in the South African Police Service and what did he do? He was friends and accepted bribes from drug dealers. This is the man who I think the country should be blaming for all the corruption within the police and all the drugs that are on our streets but is this happening? No, actually government are calling on us to remember him as a freedom fighter. Really? Wouldn’t it be best to remember him as a crime fighter, as a man who took no nonsense from criminals, a man who made drug busts during his tenure in office, but unfortunately we cannot do that. We are told not to speak ill of the dead, but does it mean we should glorify a convicted fraudster who was entrusted with crime fighting in the country. I’m seriously gonna pull my hair out if the country gives this corrupt person a state funeral, but again, who am I to judge? Do my opinions even matter? But again, what Selebi did during his time goes to prove that some of the positions are not supposed to be political appointments and deployments. Selebi shouldn’t have had that post, nor is any politician fit to take that position. That position should be given to policemen/women who worked their way up through the police ranks and not just given a silver platter like that.
