Lawmakers please wake up

The South African justice system surely has to wake up and smell the coffee after a number of gruesome murders on young girls.

By waking up I mean imposing a harsh penalty on those responsible for committing the crime. Not just 15 years’ imprisonment, not just a life sentence but something that will send a message and make others think twice – something like the death penalty.

In Roodepoort, a teenage girl allegedly was set alight by her boyfriend. In Pretoria, a 19-year-old girl’s naked body was found in a secluded area with her legs cut off. In Mothutlong outside Brits in the North West a matric pupil’s severely burnt body was discovered. Police have arrested four men in connection with the last murder.

In Bredasdorp a 14-year-old girl’s body was found under a suspect’s bed – the killer believed to be her boyfriend. In Gugulethu, Cape Town, the body of a 10-year-old girl also was found under a bed in a house – three men were arrested. In Zwelitsha, a 27-year-old man was arrested for the murder of his 14-year-old girlfriend – her body also was found under a bed.

Then two years ago, the murder of teenage girl Anene Booysen who was found raped and disembowelled and later died in hospital sent shock waves through the country.

Surely this is enough motivation for our lawmakers to say: “Enough is enough”, and “Bring back the death penalty.”

Some would argue that those who committed the cruel deed have a right to life, but my question to them is this: “Did they respect the right to life of the young people they had killed?”

It’s very simple … an eye for an eye?