#NotAllMen need apologise

I WATCHED the news and this gentleman with dark glasses and his hand in his one pocket was making a national statement that, on behalf of all men, he is apologising for the crime wave that is mostly affecting women and children.

The programme then showed a man in the street, Jan Allemans, also stating that he would tell his sons to respect and treat their wives and girlfriends with love and respect, and not with violence.

Now here is where I jump off that roll call as a man. I apologise for nothing because I am not the cause of crime, whether of a minor or violent nature against any women and children.

The people who should be apologising are President Jacob Zuma for not implementing the ultimate sentence – the death penalty – for those men found guilty of violent crime against women and children;Minister of Police Fikile Mbalula, for not boosting police resources and heeding the call to bring back the specialised units; those in the justice systems who allow lenient bail, lenient sentences, lenient parole releases; those in the correctional system who make our prisons seem like hotels or holiday homes in comparison to hard labour like it was in the old days; those people who cover up crimes committed by family and friends; those members of the public who turn a blind eye and don’t report crimes; those in the media who do not have a dedicated space on their channels or pages dealing with crime; and, last, those men who have committed these despicable crimes.

You should stop it and you must apologise. Yes, these are the people who must apologise to the nation, not me – no sir.

A quote by Abaida Mahmood should get you thinking: “There are two kinds of males: men who stand up for women’s rights and cowards. The choice is yours.” KEITH ALFRED ADOLPH BLAKE Ottery