My last post about violence was mainly based on gangsterism. I didn’t go into a lot of detail because that post was initially a part of a bigger piece that all seemed a bit too much like my afro when the South Easter gets a hold of it, deumeka.
Cape Town is the 13th most violent city in the WORLD with places like Nelson Mandela Bay and Durban ranking 43rd and 50th respectively. What bothers me the most is how this affects our children. They are not only constantly surrounded by it but are most often the victims of violence. Our children are being killed every day. Innocent lives stripped away without a second thought. They are supposed to be the future, the tomorrow of this country but what kind of future is there for South Africa when 900 children were killed between 2015 and 2016 alone? Over the past decade almost 10 000 children have been murdered.
There is nowhere safe, they are not protected. If we don’t find them dumped in plastic bags, sewerage pipes or toilets, we find them raped and mutilated in an open field or shallow grave. Their bodies are burnt with tyres. They are strangled or their throats are slit. They are disemboweled. They are stuffed in fridges. Branches get shoved down their throats.
Sends a chill down your spine doesn't it? You picture that happen to a child. YOUR child. You shudder at the mere thought.
I am honestly beyond the point where we blame drugs and poverty for the violence in the country. That’s a lame excuse -and maybe because I don’t get it. Unemployed? So is half of our working age. But why do some people find that their desperation is worth hurting others?
I am a believer in being conscious – and I don’t just mean ‘awake’. I mean CONSCIOUS.
No matter how drunk you are or how high you are at SOME point, you know what you are doing. You somehow know how to find yourself home and passed out on your bed dik gesuip. You somehow know how to drive a car, you somehow know how to lure, rape and kill a child. You are in your right mind. You need to take some kind of responsibility. If you have too much of a drug, you overdose. And although your judgment is compromised, it doesn't mean that you don’t know what are you are doing is wrong.
Besides, most people are perfectly sober when they kill a defenseless child. Mortimer Saunders was only tired when he fed rat poison to Courtney Pietersen. The ex-boyfriend of Kaithlyn Wilson’s mother was definitely sober when he killed her out of spite. What about Jeremiah Ruiters? Was Ameeruddien Peters high or drunk when he raped the 18 month old after beating and stabbing him?
Then I am trying to wrap my ahead the unemployment thing. Devil’s work for idle hands? Are you that bored? Don’t get me wrong. I know what it is like to be broke and unemployed – at the same time. But how does killing a child that is unable to fight back make you feel better about your situation? How does it SOLVE your problem?
If the temporary high of raping and killing children is what unemployed people are going to be chasing then we will soon have a lot of serial killers on our hands.
I cringe every time my daughter leaves the house. I sit at work and wonder if she is safe, hope that she is safe, pray that she is safe.
But is it enough?
Is our outrage enough? Are we doing enough?
We say ‘enough’ is ‘enough’ – but is it?
Enough of the future.
It’s dying.
Cape Town is the 13th most violent city in the WORLD with places like Nelson Mandela Bay and Durban ranking 43rd and 50th respectively. What bothers me the most is how this affects our children. They are not only constantly surrounded by it but are most often the victims of violence. Our children are being killed every day. Innocent lives stripped away without a second thought. They are supposed to be the future, the tomorrow of this country but what kind of future is there for South Africa when 900 children were killed between 2015 and 2016 alone? Over the past decade almost 10 000 children have been murdered.
There is nowhere safe, they are not protected. If we don’t find them dumped in plastic bags, sewerage pipes or toilets, we find them raped and mutilated in an open field or shallow grave. Their bodies are burnt with tyres. They are strangled or their throats are slit. They are disemboweled. They are stuffed in fridges. Branches get shoved down their throats.
Sends a chill down your spine doesn't it? You picture that happen to a child. YOUR child. You shudder at the mere thought.
***
I am honestly beyond the point where we blame drugs and poverty for the violence in the country. That’s a lame excuse -and maybe because I don’t get it. Unemployed? So is half of our working age. But why do some people find that their desperation is worth hurting others?
I am a believer in being conscious – and I don’t just mean ‘awake’. I mean CONSCIOUS.
No matter how drunk you are or how high you are at SOME point, you know what you are doing. You somehow know how to find yourself home and passed out on your bed dik gesuip. You somehow know how to drive a car, you somehow know how to lure, rape and kill a child. You are in your right mind. You need to take some kind of responsibility. If you have too much of a drug, you overdose. And although your judgment is compromised, it doesn't mean that you don’t know what are you are doing is wrong.
Besides, most people are perfectly sober when they kill a defenseless child. Mortimer Saunders was only tired when he fed rat poison to Courtney Pietersen. The ex-boyfriend of Kaithlyn Wilson’s mother was definitely sober when he killed her out of spite. What about Jeremiah Ruiters? Was Ameeruddien Peters high or drunk when he raped the 18 month old after beating and stabbing him?
Then I am trying to wrap my ahead the unemployment thing. Devil’s work for idle hands? Are you that bored? Don’t get me wrong. I know what it is like to be broke and unemployed – at the same time. But how does killing a child that is unable to fight back make you feel better about your situation? How does it SOLVE your problem?
If the temporary high of raping and killing children is what unemployed people are going to be chasing then we will soon have a lot of serial killers on our hands.
I cringe every time my daughter leaves the house. I sit at work and wonder if she is safe, hope that she is safe, pray that she is safe.
But is it enough?
Is our outrage enough? Are we doing enough?
We say ‘enough’ is ‘enough’ – but is it?
Enough of the future.
It’s dying.
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