Every day in the newspapers, radio stations and TV, the leading stories are of alleged police shootings.
When black people first practised their right to vote in 1994, the country rejoiced and danced, hoping that all was going to be well, not realising that their votes were opening the dams of blood.
Our community streets are covered in the blood of those who are being allegedly shot during the service delivery protests.
The death of many mine workers in Marikana during their strike, fighting for their salary increases, was the start of more innocent blood to be poured.
The incident increased the number of orphans and widows in our country which led to even more increased poverty.
Families were left with no hope of a brighter future and many went, and still go to bed on an empty stomach because the breadwinner was shot when he was protesting so that he would be able to make the lives of his family better.
I always have a question in my mind: does the beautiful uniform that the police wear take away their humanity or do we, as citizens, provoke them?.
The incidents of citizens being allegedly shot by the police do not happen far from where we live.
Around March last year a boy was allegedly shot and killed by a police officer in KwaThema and recently a man lost his life in Duduza following allegations that he was shot by a police officer.
I believe that the police are there to protect the nation but the way things are happening in this country it seems as if one needs to trust himself enough to ensure the security of his loved ones.
I recently had a little chat with one of the police officers and asked him what went wrong in the police department.
His response to me was that people need to understand that the police are also human beings and that they make mistakes just like other human beings.
He said one of the things that he thinks at times lead to the police losing their temper is the fact that in the townships where most of the police officers live, they are being undermined and labelled as being not earning enough.
After our short conversation, I also thought that maybe what my friend told me was true.
However, I still had a question of how many people are working and do not earn enough, so does that mean that they should have a short temper and take their frustrations out on other people and kill them?
Trust me, I am still battling to find an answer to my question.
Growing up I felt more safe around police officers and even seeing the police vehicles made me know that I am safe but all that has changed.
In these days many people say they had better trust a stranger than a police officer.
Hear me well, I am not attacking the police or accusing them of being killers, but I am saying that many incidents about police allegedly shooting and killing the community members worry me and have disappointed many citizens.
There will never be peace in the country if the police are not there to ensure the safety of the nation.
We need them to make us feel safe and not to feel threatened around them.
A police officer is supposed to be a friend and a protector to all those living in this country, let us give them the respect that they deserve so in that in return we can again feel safe around them.
