Standing with Chatsworth against crime

WITH the tragic loss of nine-yearold Sadia Sukraj in a botched hijacking, emotions ran high in the Chatsworth community.

Residents protested against the bail application for the accused and pleaded for justice to be served.

The Chatsworth community stood united for a common cause, to stop crime.

News stations across the world watched with bated breath as men, women, children and the elderly were tear-gassed and shot with rubber bullets.

Many had serious injuries, including a pensioner who had to wait for three hours in a cell before police took him to hospital for surgery on a leg break.

Police Minister Bheki Cele, in relation to the attempted hijacking, recently said: “We have arrested a man who has a string of criminal cases‚ including hijacking and attempted murder.

“I am told he was sentenced to seven years in 2013. I don’t know how people like him get parole – the one killed also has a long list of criminal activity, as does the third.”

All three of the accused had been arrested, charged and jailed previously for their crimes and yet with a criminal record as horrific as that they were still released.

Asked about the fate of the accused, Cele said: “Hopefully they get life sentences because they have a string of crimes against them.”

Hopefully! Hope is a dream, Mr Cele, but implementation is practical. The Department of Justice must implement an unbreakable law compelling all (such) criminals to serve life sentences with no possibility of parole. Either that or we demand that the government bring back the death penalty.

In certain parts of the US murder is punishable by death or life imprisonment. In Saudi Arabia, criminals are immediately sentenced to death for murder.

These strict laws are the reason why these countries do not have the massive crime statistics that we do. They are a deterrent to would-be criminals. We need to learn from those countries in order to implement swift justice for the safety of all South Africans.

Some may argue that there is overcrowding in prisons, with not enough space for the influx of long term convicts. As a result, first time offenders are usually released long before their full sentence has been served. After the Chatsworth community protest, crime incidents did not stop. In another hijacking in Avoca Durban, a father was shot in the head in front of his young children. Criminals have not been fazed by any of the strategies meant to stop them, if anything it has made them even more brazen in their revolt against the police.

These hardened criminals need to understand that South Africans will not tolerate this kind of behaviour anymore.

We are rising up against crime! We will not let another daughter die in vain. We will not stand by as another father is murdered in front of his children. We will not watch as our families suffer.

We will never go quietly into the night. We will fight to protect our families by any means possible. Criminals beware!

My name is Velisa Naicker and I stand with the people of Chatsworth! VELISA NAICKER

Moorton