LAST week’s article ‘Child predators on the prowl in Zululand’ refers.
It is a disturbing reflection of where we are as a society.
Apart from the many unsolved missing children cases mentioned in the article, the number of brutal murders, muti killings, rapes, hijackings and violent crime reported on in the Zululand Observer on a weekly basis, would hit national headlines in any civilised country.
Yet here, potholes in the road, water restrictions and other such stories of inconvenience attract far more public reaction – judging by the letters and Facebook comments – than fellow human beings being butchered on a large scale.
Perhaps it is human nature to deliberately shut oneself off from the never-ending flood of barbarism that rules in South Africa today.
Difficult as it is, however, as a society we cannot think that by burying our heads in the sand the culture of savagery will simply go away by itself.
It is exactly when a civilisation becomes inactive or unwilling to face and deal with hard truths, that evil prevails.
Surely it has dawned on everybody of reasonable intelligence by now that our weak-kneed government is not capable of bringing law and order to acceptable levels.
Instead of addressing crucial public issues, politicians are far too busy with infighting, personal manoeuvring and other selfish pursuits.
While fingers are constantly pointed at the police whose track record of solving these cases is dismal to say the least – and often the criticisms hold merit – government simply throws more money at the problem instead of taking the trouble to properly investigate and determine the levels of resources, expertise and training needed to create an effective police force.
It is time that society stops shrugging shoulders in avoidance and becomes more militant about the matters that matter.
CARA VAN HEERDEN
