South Africans are living in a state of constant fear

During this past week, I read an article where the Minister of Police, General Bheki Cele said that the criticism police officers are receiving from South Africans is unfair as he believes they are doing a sterling job. He also said that the crime rate is not that high and they (the police) have everything under control.

These statements almost caused me to choke on my morning coffee and I could only shake my head in disbelief, as I could think of at least three incidents just in the past month or so, that say otherwise.

The most recent incident is something that hits quite close to home when three armed men threw my brother off of his bicycle and robbed him at gunpoint. This happened in broad daylight, next to quite a busy road while they were cycling in a group. He was almost killed for a cellphone and a bicycle (which was recovered moments after the incident happened as a result of the actions of a helpful taxi driver). My brother sustained some serious injuries, and, even though these will heal, the mental scars might take a while longer and hinder him from enjoying this activity for a while.

There was also the woman from KZN who had to take matters into her own hands after almost being hijacked. I listened to her video interview where she relayed how she was ambushed by two men who assaulted her in her car while she was stationary at a boom gate; hitting her repeatedly. They ripped her gold chain from her neck and tried to force her out of her vehicle, but when they were unsuccessful, they settled on grabbing her handbag and running away. She then chased after them, and with police officers looking on, she ran the one thief over. While relaying her ordeal, she was crying and apologising to the thief.

Probably the most traumatic incident is the one of the young couple who were relaxing in their tent at a holiday resort. Instead of it being the romantic getaway they envisioned it turned into a nightmare when they were targeted by armed criminals. The young man tried to lure them away from the tent and his girlfriend and was shot multiple times. Just as he thought he succeeded, the criminals returned to the tent, and when they realised there was someone else inside, they opened fire before running away. The young man survived, but his girlfriend succumbed to her injuries. She was only 23 years old.

These are only a few of the incidents that occur in our beautiful country daily, resulting in men, women, and children living in fear; too scared to leave their homes or do what they love.

Our police minister is also horribly out of touch with what is going on at ground level and needs to rethink his strategy. These are only a few reasons why South Africans are starting to look after their own safety and security by taking matters into their own hands.

I have only one question, “Are we living in the same South Africa, Mr Minister?”