Senseless killings has the potential to unite the nation

As I was watching the news on TV the whole week I realised that Senzo Meyiwa has touched millions of lives, not only those who knew him from our screens, including myself.

With all the emotions and anger of being robbed of someone of such calibre, it became clear that indeed we are all affected by crime despite our socio-economic status, restoring our potential to unite us as a nation.

People from all sporting codes, the football fraternity including the rival Kaizer Chiefs, rallied behind condemning this barbaric act through creating a social movement against crime.

What puzzles me though is the manner in which the solidarity often turns to be short-lived, when it is still memorable and alive. We have ensured that in order for their memories not to fade, we must live each day by renewing our commitment to clean our streets in pursuit of a safer Gauteng for those who live and work in it.

Luke Tibbett, Taegrin Morris, Anelisa Mkondo, Zandile Mali and Yonelisa, toddlers from Diepsloot who were kidnapped, raped and murdered, sent shock waves to everyone, even though most of them didn’t know any of these victims on a personal level. This is an indication that we as a society still have conscience, still care and still embrace the notion of Ubuntu.

The fundamental question we should be asking ourselves, is how to galvanise the same solidarity in rooting out the bad apples in our society by blowing the whistle on them, even doing so anonymously. Each investigating officer from the 141 police stations in Gauteng has to have a minimum of four informers that he/she works with as part of sourcing community intelligence. Our country needs us to be activists in the fight against all forms of crime. One life lost is one too many.

Busi Kheswa