Zuma to blame for crime in SA

THE death of Sadia Sukhraj and the criminality taking place in Kwazulu-natal, especially in ethekwini, should be laid squarely at the foot of former president Jacob Zuma.

To protect himself and the criminal network that surrounded him, Zuma engineered the undermining and destruction of institutions such as Parliament, the police, the intelligence services and the National Prosecuting Authority, giving criminals free rein to wreak havoc.

Our security establishment spent the past decade trying its best not to see the crime being committed against the South African state and its people.

The Zuma regime shredded the police and the justice department of some of its finest brains. Many top investigators and those who were right for promotion were prodded to take early retirement or booted. They were replaced by a bunch of incompetents.

Does the name Shaun Abrahams ring a bell?

During Zuma’s tenure, the cumulative effects of slap-dash investigations and devil-may-care attitude in the police force, as well as corruption, brought this country to the verge of anarchy.

To exacerbate this, the wheels of justice wobble along and take a long time to begin a trial and mete out justice. Every attempt is made to find extenuating circumstances to blunt the edge of retributive justice. We are not going to deter criminals if we subject them to kid glove treatment.

It must also be noted that criminals who hijack vehicles are only the foot soldiers. The real villains are the crime syndicates.

Police Minister Bheki Cele and national police commissioner General Khehla Sithole have a tough task of bringing the state security agencies back to normality. But we are confident they will rise to the occasion.

In the meantime, the police and the NPA need to do their job without fear or favour. Unless this is done, crime syndicates will turn our country into killing fields.

JAYRAJ BACHU Clare Estate