When you live in South Africa, you are likely to be a victim of crime

The reality is when you live in South Africa, you are likely to be a victim of crime. Every day more citizens fall victim to the various crimes that suppress our freedom. By now, almost everyone knows someone who was robbed, raped or murdered.

In terms of the lesser crimes, we were just too happy to survive to tell the tale. Doing the right thing by testifying in court isn’t always easy or comfortable because testifying is a lengthy process that requires a lot of patience and willingness to complete.

Reporting a crime isn’t the only obligation we have when wanting to play an active role in our communities in standing up against crime.

Last year, I was a victim of crime when, together with a group of friends, we found ourselves being shot at by a known character of the so-called underworld. The incident was concerning because every day innocent people are being shot at or killed by perpetrators with illegal firearms who freely roamed the streets and continued to harass the communities.

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I never thought I would witness such a shooting at such a close range or be close enough to be hit by a ricochetting bullet. Fortunately, no one was injured and we lived to tell the tale.

When the police were a no-show after the shooting, we went to the police station to report the incident. If the wait for the police call out wasn’t long enough, the process at the police station seemed equally lengthy. Each had the opportunity to give a statement about the random shooting.

As the months went past, rumours of more incidents spread around the community while the alleged shooter remained free. I also never thought I would wait for an investigation to lead to the arrest of the perpetrator.

Like most South Africans, I accepted we were now simply statistics of crime, while the illegal activities seemed to be a thing of the past.

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Recently, a police detective served me with a summons to testify in court against the alleged shooter. This was another first because I never thought I would be summonsed to court or have to testify in a case against an accused. I was equally surprised when the case made it onto the court roll after nearly a year of dead ends.

Attending court as a witness was nerve-racking because I didn’t know what to expect on the day, despite following and reporting on many cases for work. As law-abiding citizens, we arrived early at court and waited while the other cases were being heard before meeting the prosecutor.

I never thought I would have to take the stand but was called after the accused not only pleaded not guilty, but also denied the entire incident ever happening. Again, we waited as each witness had to enter the courtroom one at a time to recall the fateful day’s events.

Like at many other state departments, we waited our turn. I was lucky enough to take the stand before the lunchtime break and was happy to be on my way shortly after that and put the experience behind me.

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The alleged shooter again side-stepped the long arm of the law after the case was postponed until next year for further investigation. The alleged shooter has not been found guilty yet but I was pleased to have played an active role in serving my community by not only reporting the crime, but also by standing up and speaking out about violence when there are many more victims who are too afraid to do so.