Dear Editor
The recent release of the national crime statistics have confirmed our worst fears, that contact crime in our country - which include murder, attempted murder, assault and sexual offences - have increased.
It is unacceptable and absolutely alarming that - after a smooth transition to a democracy - there are almost 50 murders a day in South Africa.
A culture of entitlement has risen in the country that apparently justifies almost any action taken to address grievances and promote personal interests. Communities have to take ownership of their own best interests, including the creation of an environment free of crime and fear.
At the same time, one cannot lose sight of the fact that - after 21 years of democracy - we still have huge social imbalances in our society, lack of service delivery, corruption gone overboard and, of course, public servants and officials - our supposed role models - ‘entitling ‘ and ‘enriching’ themselves on an almost obscene level - all at the expense of our citizens.
There are too many instances of corruption, nepotism and poor governance that have maligned our nation. The financial ‘distress’ and failure of almost 100 local municipalities, in many cases, are due to a lack of performance and corruption of its respective personnel.
A case in point, as reported by BusinessTech - “Billions spent paying 36,000 SA government workers that ‘don’t exist’.” This scenario is a phenomenon of the North West province which spent billions of rands paying the salaries of 36,000 ‘ghost’ public servants who cannot be accounted for. According to the report, North-West Province had an annual budget of R26 billion in the past financial year, with a staggering R19 billion spent on salaries versus R3 billion spent on service delivery.
One wonders how it is at all possible for such a blatant situation to have transpired.
Crime, to an extent, is an inheritance of imbalances rooted in our society by the previous regime. The people of this beautiful country, especially those in positions of leadership and authority, need to display the code of honesty, morality, tolerance, integrity and Ubuntu to quell the impatience and intolerance that is raging through crime and social misconduct.
Tuesday, 06 October 2015
SENT TO: Daily News, The Mercury, The Witness, Independent on Saturday, The Times, The Citizen, Star, Cape Argus, Cape Times
Darul Ihsan Media Desk
*PUBLISHED: Daily News, Friday 09 October 2015
