By the way

Most of us have been victims of crime at one stage or another.

For us, the victims, a crime committed against us remains a crime. We don’t classify it as serious, “big” or petty. It remains traumatic, whether a cell phone is snatched out of our hands or our homes are broken into.

Unfortunately due to the sheer volume of such incidents, many victims do not always report all crime, because of the belief that the criminals will not be caught.

They also believe that if the perpetrators are caught, they will receive light sentences and be back on the streets in no time at all.

This is often the case, because when a suspect has indeed been arrested, the complainant shows no further interest in the case, not even attending the court appearances of the suspect.

We either don’t want to take time off from work to “waste our time” at the court or we leave it all up to the State to pursue the matter.

This view gives little weight to the seriousness of the matter and does not provide the prosecutor or magistrate with enough substance to pass fitting judgment. The case against the accused could be further weakened if the complainant is not in court to provide a factual account of what took place.

Each time the accused appears in court, the complainant should also be there to monitor the proceedings. Public interest in what goes on in our courts also goes a long way to bringing the message home that communities have had enough of crime. We want to see that the perpetrators are suitably punished for infringing on our personal space. Reporting so-called “petty crimes” often leads to the discovery that, when arrested, certain perpetrators are found to have a list of previous convictions against them. In a trial this is taken into account and further strengthens the case against the accused, which can lead to heavier sentences.

It is not always necessary to take to the streets and create a noisy fuss or go out on “Rambo”-like vigilante operations to “rid the streets of criminals”.

By simply sitting silently in court and where necessary providing the wheels of justice with the necessary oil to ensure that they turn smoothly, we can all send a strong message to the criminal elements.

We, the public, should be prepared to fight back.

By reporting all crime and by

showing an interest in the cases

we report we can help to ensure

that the criminals are made to

pay for their crimes.