Tried to print story but ET kept saying too long. Anyway here is link.
http://www.sundayherald.com/misc/print.php?artid=2032947
http://www.sundayherald.com/misc/print.php?artid=2032947
South Africa ....a country going to hell !!!
- Thread starter taodr
- Start date
I am looking at a B.A. thesis by a then 21 year old South African student completed in 1994 where she predicted pretty much predicts what is in this article.
Thinking about it, it was always going to happen, wasn't it?
P.S. The student who wrote the abovementioned B.A. thesis was bashed to death after being raped in 1998 by people who's skin colour rhymes with 'slack'.
Thinking about it, it was always going to happen, wasn't it?
P.S. The student who wrote the abovementioned B.A. thesis was bashed to death after being raped in 1998 by people who's skin colour rhymes with 'slack'.
I like SA. I spend my winter vacation there every year for kitesurfing and windsurfing and did not experience one power failure. I like the people there (white AND black) and restaurants and never experienced any violence nore did any of my friends.
But I know this is the view of a tourist only and that there is a lot of crime in some parts of the big cities.
I hope so much for all these people that they can solve their problems !
The reason of the problems that this country faces now are not the black people, its to many years of racism and bad education of the majority.
But I know this is the view of a tourist only and that there is a lot of crime in some parts of the big cities.
I hope so much for all these people that they can solve their problems !
The reason of the problems that this country faces now are not the black people, its to many years of racism and bad education of the majority.
I'd consider it a miracle and a tragedy if the games are played there in 2010....
South Africa faces crime challenge
By John Simpson
World affairs editor, BBC News
Three weeks ago, President Thabo Mbeki insisted that most South Africans did not think the crime rate in their country was getting out of hand.
Replica weapon
Levels of gun crime are high in South Africa
Now, in his annual State of the Nation address to parliament, he has admitted that people live in fear. He has promised an increase in police numbers.
It is a turnaround which compares with his change of heart on Aids.
In a recent television interview Mr Mbeki said: "Nobody can show that the overwhelming majority of the 40 or 50 million South Africans think that crime is out of control."
The other night in Hillbrow, the most crime-ridden area of Johannesburg, my camera team and I stood on the corner of Claim Street and Pretoria Street, speaking to passers-by.
An angry crowd built up so fast that our security man advised us to leave. But there was no threat to us. They were desperate to talk about crime.
One man showed us the scars he had received from a stabbing. Another said crime was overwhelming in Hillbrow.
A woman told us how she could not wear good earrings or good clothes for fear of being robbed.
Two days later a man was stabbed to death on the very corner where we had filmed.
Suffering
The government often suggests that only white people are worried about crime.
"They should get out if they don't like it," one minister said recently.
Our experience showed that black people are just as frightened by it.
South African police
South African police are often poorly paid and motivated
Every day, more than 300 murders and violent attacks take place in South Africa. Together with Iraq and Colombia, it is one of the three most dangerous countries on earth.
But there are two important points to make.
First, this is not a question of black versus white. Far more black people than white people are affected by crime, though the white population is certainly suffering heavily.
Secondly, South Africa is hugely successful, with eight years of uninterrupted economic growth. Every opinion poll shows that a large majority of people, black and white, is highly optimistic about the country's future.
Some believe the growth is partly responsible for the crime, since people from the rest of Africa are flowing in at an unprecedented rate.
One study suggests that there are six million illegal immigrants in South Africa. Many fall easily and quickly into crime.
Society's choice
So what is the answer? Johan Burger, a former senior policeman who now works for the Institute of Security Studies in Pretoria, believes that President Mbeki's promise to increase police numbers is not enough on its own.
"The criminal justice system cannot deal with crime on its own. There has to be a holistic solution, involving every part of society. Crime goes down when societies change, not the other way round," he said.
We only hire people whose backgrounds we know and can trust. We never buy stolen goods, even though they are cheaper
Tebogo
Soweto entrepreneur
Professor Barney Pityana, the head of one of South Africa's largest universities, UNISA, agrees.
"There has been a breakdown of societal values in South Africa," he says.
"It is not enough to blame the legacy of apartheid. This is something we each have to take responsibility for as individuals."
By John Simpson
World affairs editor, BBC News
Three weeks ago, President Thabo Mbeki insisted that most South Africans did not think the crime rate in their country was getting out of hand.
Replica weapon
Levels of gun crime are high in South Africa
Now, in his annual State of the Nation address to parliament, he has admitted that people live in fear. He has promised an increase in police numbers.
It is a turnaround which compares with his change of heart on Aids.
In a recent television interview Mr Mbeki said: "Nobody can show that the overwhelming majority of the 40 or 50 million South Africans think that crime is out of control."
The other night in Hillbrow, the most crime-ridden area of Johannesburg, my camera team and I stood on the corner of Claim Street and Pretoria Street, speaking to passers-by.
An angry crowd built up so fast that our security man advised us to leave. But there was no threat to us. They were desperate to talk about crime.
One man showed us the scars he had received from a stabbing. Another said crime was overwhelming in Hillbrow.
A woman told us how she could not wear good earrings or good clothes for fear of being robbed.
Two days later a man was stabbed to death on the very corner where we had filmed.
Suffering
The government often suggests that only white people are worried about crime.
"They should get out if they don't like it," one minister said recently.
Our experience showed that black people are just as frightened by it.
South African police
South African police are often poorly paid and motivated
Every day, more than 300 murders and violent attacks take place in South Africa. Together with Iraq and Colombia, it is one of the three most dangerous countries on earth.
But there are two important points to make.
First, this is not a question of black versus white. Far more black people than white people are affected by crime, though the white population is certainly suffering heavily.
Secondly, South Africa is hugely successful, with eight years of uninterrupted economic growth. Every opinion poll shows that a large majority of people, black and white, is highly optimistic about the country's future.
Some believe the growth is partly responsible for the crime, since people from the rest of Africa are flowing in at an unprecedented rate.
One study suggests that there are six million illegal immigrants in South Africa. Many fall easily and quickly into crime.
Society's choice
So what is the answer? Johan Burger, a former senior policeman who now works for the Institute of Security Studies in Pretoria, believes that President Mbeki's promise to increase police numbers is not enough on its own.
"The criminal justice system cannot deal with crime on its own. There has to be a holistic solution, involving every part of society. Crime goes down when societies change, not the other way round," he said.
We only hire people whose backgrounds we know and can trust. We never buy stolen goods, even though they are cheaper
Tebogo
Soweto entrepreneur
Professor Barney Pityana, the head of one of South Africa's largest universities, UNISA, agrees.
"There has been a breakdown of societal values in South Africa," he says.
"It is not enough to blame the legacy of apartheid. This is something we each have to take responsibility for as individuals."