Government is helpless in defeating criminals
IN MANY people’s lives, there’s a time when a defining moment arrives.
It sneaks up on you when you least expect it. That’s what happened to the families of botched hijacking victims, little Sadia Sukhraj and father of two, Kelly Chetty. I always say we would never know sorrow or pain until we have a personal encounter.
If you are reading this, how will you be feeling if Sadia was your baby girl or Chetty your doting dad or husband? It seems the sanctity of life has reached its final vortex and is spinning out of control.
Every goodbye or meal with your
Gandhi was not as spotless as painted
WHILST worthy of commemoration, the report on the 125th anniversary of Gandhi’s ejection from the first class compartment of the train at Pietermaritzburg station (the Mercury, June 7), besides containing factual errors, exemplifies how the selective exploitation of history can nurture an image.
Unfortunate and regrettable though that train experience was, it was not the issue which galvanised Gandhi into becoming a champion of the rights of those subjected to discrimination. After spending nearly a year in Pretoria assisting his brother’s merchant firm in a legal case, Gandhi intended to return to India. It was upon arriving back in Durban in April 1894 that he read of legislation to be introduced in the Natal parliament disenfranchising Indians. That news proved a watershed in his life.
For the next 20 years he remained in South Africa championing the cause of Indians.
The image of Gandhi as a crusader of rights is not quite as shiny as portrayed. His Natal Indian Congress, as historians Maureen Swan, Joy Brain, Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed contend, reflected the interests of the Indian merchant trading elite. In their book Inside Indian Indenture, Desai and Vahed note that Gandhi distinguished between indentured labour and free immigrant Indians. He regarded indenture as an issue of contract and bargain (p. 372).
In an interview with the New Statesman on November 13, 1896, Gandhi made it clear that his notion of equality did not include all Indians and that he had no intention of paving the way for “c ***** s” to vote (Maureen Swan, Gandhi – The South African Experience, p. 63).
Gandhi’s protestations reflected a class rather than a race interest. Significant at that time, Gandhi and the NIC shared whites’ prejudices towards Natal Africans (p.50).
Gandhi’s selective interest in acts of discrimination was evident at the time of the inquiry into human rights abuses on Reynolds Bros estates in Umzinto in 1906.
Gandhi’s Indian Opinion was silent on reporting poor treatment of indentured Indians. To remedy the credibility of politically nuanced views of Gandhi, a source worth consulting is Desai and Vahed’s book The South African Gandhi – Stretcher-bearer of Empire. DUNCAN DU BOIS
Bluff
Licence to abuse paying customers
I FEEL so angry. We go to work, pay our bills and we are always catching our tails in terms of time management. We always strive to stay on the straight and narrow.
However, last week I had the most unhappy experience. I went loved ones could be your last. How can we live knowing that when we leave for work in the morning, we may never return?
Recently a clip went viral on social media when two parolees bragged about how they murder and rob for a living. They stated if they did not get money they would put a baby in a microwave and roast it or slice the wife’s throat. This is modern day South Africa which has been besieged by hardcore criminals holding the country hostage. These callous killers crave instilling fear in their victims.
With a general election coming up, it is the season for political assassinations. to renew licences for two of our family cars which happen to be on my name at a Post Point at the Pick n Pay Hypermarket, in Durban North.
I just managed to get in around 5.45pm – 15 minutes before closing time.
Armed with the renewal notices and driver’s licence, I did not expect to be harassed. Nowhere on the renewal letter did it state that I needed proof of residence.
The manner and tone of the person attending to me saddened me. He insisted on proof of residence, and was not willing to be helpful.
Thankfully, upon rummaging in my bag I found an electricity bill that saved the day.
My point is, I went to buy my licence to drive my car. Over the last few years we have not received renewal notices, and discovered long after expiry dates and then proceeded to buy licences.
Discretion, and common sense rather than hostility should rule our days. And the Road Traffic Department needs to know their hands from their elbows and service providers need to inculcate “service before self”. Our world would be a much better place. NAVA NAIDOO
Parlock Hostels have become breeding grounds for death and cash-in-transit heists have gained popularity. Violent crime is now a daily part of our lives. About 19 000 people were murdered in South Africa between April 2016 and April 2017.
Our government is helpless, their silence signalling defeat. Our politicians continue to distribute meaningless reassurances.
The recent mass protest at the headquarters of the Chatsworth police station was filled with a sense of urgency. No amount of rubber bullets and tear gas could calm the defiant mood.
Soccer development is lagging behind
DANNY Jordaan has been involved in soccer for years, but can show no advancement to improve the standard or development of soccer.
Compare soccer development to that of rugby and cricket and you realise how pathetically soccer skills development and the junior development is lagging behind. During the run-up to the World Cup Mr Jordaan promised youth development. Promises, yes. Under his leadership, we can be assured that soccer will go nowhere.
Hopefully, our national team will continue to be known as the boys (Bafana Bafana). The players lack the skills, pride and commitment to be known as our national team. JOHAN STEYN
Dana Bay
There’s no need for brouhaha
WHAT’S the brouhaha all about President Cyril Ramaphosa addressing the Broederbond?
Nelson Mandela met them and so did Thabo Mbeki. It’s all about nation-building and Ramaphosa is
So what are the answers to our problems? Should we increase our efforts at social cohesion to foster racial harmony? Should we revamp a bigger, better, corruption-free police force. Maybe we should engage a healthier reward system for the public who is a vital source of information.
Police Minister, Bheki Cele, recently openly lamented about an arrested criminal who had been out on bail 41 times!
Maybe more power should be delegated to private security companies. Prem Balram’s RUSA have the knack of arriving on crime scenes before the SAPS. the president of South Africa and not of an anointed group. What I’m interpreting from the broadside that advocate Dali Mpofu et al have unleashed, in the aftermath of Ramaphosa addressing them, is he shouldn’t have, but the reasons I sense are in themselves as problematic as they are racist.
Yes, the Afrikaner Broederbond which is 100 years old today, played the key role in enforcing and ensuring the execution of the vilest forms of theft and violations of the rights of black South Africans. I saw an opportunity to tell them that, and that land redistribution would go ahead and that their presence in South Africa is to work with government, not against government to achieve social justice at every level.
The vituperative comments I’ve been privy to online as well as offline are a sad manifestation of revenge and doing the same thing that was done to us during apartheid. That is not what our constitution prescribed. Moreover, we must be alive to the fact that organisations like AfriForum et al are undermining our government efforts towards achieving social justice for all and we must applaud the move. South Africa belongs to all of us who live in it. SABER AHMED JAZBHAY
Newlands West
The role of bonafide private investigators should be recognised. Durban’s Brad Nathanson seems to be achieving much success in this field.
Last but not least, is to bring back the death penalty for crimes like rape and murder. While many will say that untimely deaths are just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time or part of God’s plans, we all need to be vigilant. In the meantime, while we work to make the world as we would like, we have to deal with the world as it is. KEVIN GOVENDER Shallcross
Economic morass catches Cyril out
LOW economic growth is a new reality, as South Africans realise that we are becoming poorer.
Recent inflationary impositions like the sharp increase in the petrol price and the unacceptable increase in VAT have ensured that the economy falters.
The country is in serious economic decline, and now that Cyril Ramaphosa’s honeymoon is over there isn’t anything significant happening to move the country forward economically.
After his expensive visit to Davos, the country expected feedback regarding the promises made by a variety of institutions who were going to invest in employment generators.
The country waits with bated breath to learn how all these promised billions are to be deployed.
The euphoria is over as Cyril struggles to pull together a government that has for too long been dysfunctional. Bad habits die hard. The players are still the same and the new captain has now got to grapple with a myriad issues like education, health, diabolical corruption, and elevated criminality.
The national psyche is flat as depression and anger set in.
My compatriots are struggling to keep their noses above the waterline and are just treading water. But for how long?
The spectre of land-grabbing seems to have consumed the ANC and the EFF – and foolishly they pursue this bone, thinking it will be their salvation in the next election.
The next election will be won on bread-and-butter issues because millions of people are unable to put bread on their tables to sustain their families. PETER BACHTIS Benoni
Hospital stats spell doom for NHI
OUR SA healthcare situation may not be collapsed yet but with only six of our 650 healthcare facilities passing the minimum standards requirements it is literally teetering on the brink.
This is less than 1% of hospitals and clinics (0.923%) able to provide needed service!
And the ANC still wants to nationalise our health systems to the NHI to ensure 99% of private healthcare facilities also fall in line with these standards? ROBERT NICOLAi
Howick