While South Africa marks 20 years of democracy we still have a long way to go in terms of recapturing our humanity.  News this week that a young businessman was gunned down in his shop in Nquthu – the motive being other than robber – is cause for serious discomfort.

Our towns in this area appear to be under a siege of crime.  Armed robbers, fraudsters and seemingly pointless murders are part of the weekly news round up.  Not to mention the brutal rapes we report on week in and week out.

While 20 years of freedom is going to be a humdinger of a party up in Pretoria and elsewhere with all the usual pre-election speeches this should also be a time for reflection on the state of our society.

How free can we be when we live everyday in free of crime?