GET A GRIP ON VIOLENCE NOW, SAYS DE KLERK

This is the post that would have been done yesterday.

Not much to say on this one, except of course that our leader still advocates that there is 'no crime in SA'. Shame the poor man lives in a limited reality kind of trance!

Get a grip on violence now, says De Klerk
December 18 2006 at 01:42AM

The political violence in South Africa's history has been replaced by criminal violence, former president FW de Klerk said on Sunday. "The violence of today is as devastating as the violence of the past," he said while speaking on Robben Island off Cape Town at a commemoration of the role played by Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa. "Standing here in Robben Island, on this weekend of reconciliation in 2006, I would like to think that Mahatma Gandhi would be pleased with the progress that we South Africans have made since he left us 92 years ago. "Political violence has unfortunately been replaced by criminal violence. Against his wishes we still live in a violent country," said De Klerk.

"We urgently need to continue our quest for a truly non-violent South Africa. I believe that is what Gandhi would have advocated, had he been with us." De Klerk said Gandhi's "spirit of non-violent compromise and accommodation" ultimately triumphed in South Africa's journey toward freedom. "Our constitutional settlement was guided by his view that 'we win justice quickest by rendering justice to the other party'." He said the country's challenge was to "uphold the historic agreements" reached and "come to grips with crime". - Sapa