Social media obsession with criminals softens outrage, eclipsing victims’ trauma and enabling syndicates to thrive unchecked.
There is something amiss with our generation.
Either South Africans are starved of role models, or very little truly impresses us.
This is my takeaway from the excitement that erupted when controversial businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala appeared before the parliamentary ad hoc committee – albeit from Kgosi Mampuru prison last week.
Suddenly, public sentiment shifted. The same man once branded a drug dealer and violent scoundrel is now recast as a tragic figure: disadvantaged upbringing, a mother’s pain, abandonment issues.
Social media, once aligned with outrage, now gushes over his “gorgeous lips” and sad story.
Women who once sported purple profile pictures in solidarity against gender‑based violence now find him sexually appealing.
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His wife’s possible complicity is reframed as regrettable but understandable.
But let us not forget: a woman was almost killed, another left paralysed, children’s lives scarred by drugs.
These are not rumours to be softened by aesthetics. Yet society’s newfound softness suggests we are dangerously fickle.
For years, we have said we must strip criminals of their fame. We must teach our youth that notoriety is not popularity, that glitz and glam are not success.
Instead, we live with unspoken fear – of hijackings, home invasions, victimisation.
We are walking statistics, hostages to syndicates who thrive because we allow them cultural space.
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Worse still, many believe politicians and police are entangled in these criminal networks. Honest officers are drowned out by those paid to look away.
Communities know who commits the crimes, yet when the cameras roll, criminals dress well, smile and become icons.
The alleged “John Wick of Mamelodi” pulls at heartstrings, not because of innocence, but because of charisma.
Where does South Africa stand? If we continue to romanticise alleged murderers, we betray victims and embolden syndicates.
We risk raising a generation that sees brutality as charisma, notoriety as success.
South Africa does not lack role models – it lacks the courage to celebrate them.
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Until we strip crime of its glamour, we remain hostages not only to syndicates, but to our own fickle hearts.
