Crime in this country is out of control

This article appeared in the Midrand Reporter 26.May 2017 www.midrandreporter.co.za

The pen is mightier than the sword by Sipho Siso

When Donald Trump described South Africa as a lawless state that has been overrun by criminals, we dismissed it as racist dogma coming from an American presidential hopeful seeking to paint us black-but crime is now back with a vengeance.
In the past weeks, several young women have been raped and murdered and their bodies dumped and burned in an open veld.
These events must serve as a remainder to all that there is something sick about the new South African society, contrary to what we tried to create soon after independence.
I would rather not repeat this, but, for the sake of perspective, I guess I will have to.
A young boy was cornered in a street in Soweto, stabbed multiple times and while bleeding to death, his assailant drank the young boys blood and rejoiced in a sick ritual fulfillment act.
Somewhere in a remote area of the Eastern Cape, an uncle grabbed 'umshana wakhe' (his sister's boy child) and slaughtered him like a goat, and kept eating him piece by piece and until only his hands remained. The granny caring for the boy only discovered it then.
As he ate piece by piece of his sisters child over several days, everybody in the home was worried about the boys mysterious disappearance.
The uncle pretended to be one of the family members who was worried sick, yet he knew very well what gruesome act he had just committed on the defenseless young boy who so loved his uncle and would not exchange him for anything.
In another instance, a father in Khayelitsha suffocated his two year old child to death while the infant was peacefully asleep. Then he called the child's grandmother to rush her to the hospital because the infant was not breathing.
Somewhere in the notorious Cape Flats, a toddler went missing from the yard, only to be found buried in a shallow grave among the mielies adjacent to her home.
In Sandton, Diepkloof girl Karabo Mokoena was murdered and her body dumped in Bramley. It was discovered by a passerby in a smoldering fire. Her boyfriend, the person who pretended to love her most, is currently behind bars.
While people were at the memorial service for Karabo, the body of another young girl was found burnt in Naledi and just next day the bodies of two more young women were discovered in Soweto.
Josi FM DJ Mandla Hlatshwayo and his friend Oupa Duma were shot to death at point-blank rang after coming to the rescue of a woman who was being robbed in Pimville, Soweto.
In Jo-burg CBD, 11 men allegedly took turns to repeatedly rape a pregnant woman and when the police pounced on them, some were queuing to have another round.
I can go on and on, the list is endless, especially considering those unrecognized and no-name tag persons out there on our streets who are consumed by relentless crime on a daily basis. You only
need to read 'Alex News' to understand the extend and magnitude of crime in the new South Africa. It has reached unprecedented levels in the history of the country - except for the apartheid state-sponsored crimes against non-whites.
This tells us we need a fresh start and to implement a cleansing process and create a clearinghouse to flush out all criminals, local or foreign, national or international, who have found a safe heaven in our beautiful and beloved country and are abusing our hospitality.
Denials just for the sake of being politically correct will do us no good.
President Jacob Zuma does not feel the pinch because he has a whole army surrounding him 24/7 wherever he goes. Ordinary citizens who bear the brunt of the vicious crimes need to stand up and say enough is enough. The police also need to to their work and stop taking bribes at every opportunity.
South Africa is no place to raise children anymore, because, if they walk out of your house to go and play outside, you worry whether they will come back alive or in a body bag.
It's just not live-able anymore.