PARENTS TELL OF HEARTBREAK AT MURDER INQUIRY

AN UNOFFICIAL inquiry into the murder of children was held in the city this week. The People’s Commission of Inquiry has heard heart-wrenching testimony by parents, who said their pleas for help fell on deaf ears.

Following a spike in the killing of children in the city, NGOs urged Premier Helen Zille to launch an inquiry, but she reportedly said it would be too costly. What nonsense.

As we reported yesterday, police statistics released this year showed the murder of girls and boys increased by 10% and 20% respectively, and that the rape and murder of children such as 3-yearold Courtney Pieters bore testimony to this.

South Africa’s murder rate is among the highest in the world.

When a child is raped and murdered, there is no describing the trauma, heartbreak and pain parents experience.

If an inquiry means finding ways to stop child killings, money should not be an obstacle to launching such an inquiry. On the contrary, money should not be spared on this.

Crime has become an intolerable disease in our communities, particularly in disadvantaged areas.

It must be tackled on all fronts. That’s if the authorities really care.

Instead, we witness a lukewarm response. No wonder parents at the unofficial inquiry said they felt left in the lurch. No self-respecting government does this to its people.

But in Mzantsi, people have been made to accept this to be normal. It is really sickening.

Peace.