Ultimately, we need to turn the talk into action, and whilst I agree in part that many of the crimes committed are by the poor, in desperate need of food and shelter, alot of the crime that is perpetrated, is organized by well heeled 'mafia' type operations to which crime has become big business. These also need to be dealt with. Blaming the poor for these types of syndicates is a load of BS and these people, when caught, must be punished to the fullest extent of the law - this will send out a message to any other's who may be on this particular band wagon and perhaps act as some sort of deterrent.
Here endith the tirade for today!
February 15 2007 at 11:38PM
By Wendell Roelf
President Thabo Mbeki vowed on Thursday to carry out a pledge to reduce the country's high level of violent crime amid accusations that his government had turned a blind eye to the problem.
"I reaffirm that the government will do everything possible to act on what we have promised," Mbeki told parliament less than a week after declaring that tackling social problems like poverty and crime were his priorities for 2007.
Responding to critical remarks by many opposition parliamentarians in a two-day debate on his February 9 State of the Nation address, Mbeki focused on action to tackle crime but said crime could not be eradicated without also reducing poverty.
The government has made progress in combating crime, Mbeki said, but he conceded that more needed to be done. The bulk of violent crimes occur in poor, marginalised communities that have an "almost irreversible sense of hopelessness," he said.
In his February 9 address, Mbeki acknowledged that many South Africans lived in fear of crime and announced plans to expand the police force and give officers more resources to pursue criminals. Opposition parties and the media have accused Mbeki of lacking the resolve and vision to tackle crime, which some believe is spiralling out of control in Johannesburg, the country's economic hub, and in other major cities.
South Africa has some of the world's highest rates of violent crime, including 18 528 murders last year, and has been jarred by a series of sensational crimes, including the murder of a prominent South African historian last month.
Business leaders have expressed fears that, if left unchecked, this could deter tourism and foreign investment in Africa's biggest economy and ruin the country's chances of successfully hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Unease about the problem and Mbeki's approach to it recently pushed First National Bank to plan a campaign to encourage citizens to write to Mbeki about their experiences of crime. The drive was dropped at the last minute after pressure from officials and business leaders close to Mbeki, according to news reports.
The trade union Solidarity, however, was not silenced when Mbeki's office failed to confirm receipt of thousands of crime-related emails generated by the union's website. On Thursday the predominantly white union arranged for 32 000 letters to be delivered in wheelbarrows to Mbeki's office in the capital Pretoria as part of its "Stop the Murders" campaign."We want to point out to the president that crime is more than statistics, that it's something that affects ordinary citizens of our country," union general secretary Dick Hermann told reporters.
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