Disturbing news from IOL this morning. A woman in rural Mpumalanga was forced by residents to join in the mob stoning of her own son after he was implicated in a fatal mugging in the area.
Now mob violence as a retaliation to criminal activity is nothing new to SA. If anything the fact that it hasn’t roused the authorities into dealing with crime more effectively is a very damning indictment on the effectiveness of our law-enforcement agencies. Neither is the intimidation and hounding of those (especially family members and known associates) suspected to be harbouring and protecting criminals. But this surely is a new low.
Of course nobody knows if the mother was complicit in her son’s activities. For all we know she herself may have been cowed into silence by her own fear of him. But now she has her own child’s blood on her hands, simply because her own community has such little faith in the working of the law. What does that say of us as a society? And how can communities not but fall apart when they (have to) endure such?
The police minister took a commendably tough stance against crime last year. But more than ever (and not just for the World Cup’s sake, people lives will go on after that) urgent decisive action is needed to save the very normality of our communities and how we go about our daily lives. Nothing less than that is needed to restore people’s faith in the system. Are our guarded and sheltered leaders listening though?
Laws are the agreements between people that bind society together. We codify acceptable behaviour and dictate consequences for deviating from it. Without enforcing the consequences, the Laws are meaningless.
Without enforcing, or being able to enforce, the consequences of the law, we revert back to a less civilised form of societies where the ruthless rule the pack on their terms, and dictate the norms of society on their terms.
Best thing is to ditch affirmative action and BEE, and appoint purely on merit, attract the highest level of candidates, so you have an excellent police force, literate and capable. The police force has been hijacked and is being used to reward former MK etc indivdiuals who have no experience or knowledge of police work. The community arn’t stupid, they know when a policeman has no investigative skills.
We either hire the best qualified candidates, or we are heading straight for ziimbabwefication, which will be worse than zimbabwe, because no refugees will be able to escape ‘south of the border’…
Two years ago, at the place i was working we had someone pay with fake currency. We called the police. The policeman had no idea that there was supposed to be a watermark in authentic currency. I am not joking!
A few years ago, I was involved in a court case. The Prosecutor did not know what a forensic psychologist did! There are dozens and dozens such stories. How can anyone have respect for the systgem of justice, taht has no respect for itself?
With the death in the past few days of someone who gave the names of criminals to ETV it is very sad but as South Africa is the land of opportunity for criminals and, the ‘justice’ system is there to let crooks go it is no wonder that vigilantes are coming to the fore.
Good policemen (and thankfully there are few left) risk their lives to find and arrest criminals and then the courts, or crooked cops, or the prisons let them go. The stupid prisons expect us believe that a fully grown man can smear himself with Vaseline and then squeeze out through a keyhole.
I do not know anyone who does not think that the World Cup offers opportunities to us all.
1. For the criminals, thousands of new unsuspecting victims will be arriving with cash and goods.
2. For the South African citizen, the crooks can look elsewhere and to easier pray for a month or two and leave us alone.
3. For the soccer supporters they can have something to look forward to and enjoy.
4. For the police, they can follow the visitors and try to protect them.
Criminals give nothing for the world cup and any crook who is worth has salt will be planning on how to get the most from the deluge of easy prey that are set to arrive.
Crooks have no national pride – a victim is a victim
I wonder what the mother was thinking as she stoned her son?
‘If only I had brought him up to respect people and property’.. or
‘take that you cruel bastard, you won’t beat me up again’.. or
‘like father like son’.. or
‘god forgive me, but here’s a big rock for his skull to end his suffering quickly’
You’re right, its not her or the community’s fault, its the police who must take responsibility for such terrible deeds because of their inaction.