How can ours be the most beautiful and the most crime-ridden city?

EVERY day we wake to gutwrenching news of incidents of the most violent kind that have taken place all over the country. Not long ago, the eyes of the world were on us when we celebrated Nelson Mandela’s 100th birthday. By now we all know of the terrifying experience many concert-goers endured only a short distance from the FNB Stadium. On their way home or while waiting for their Uber rides, they were attacked and robbed by armed thugs.

Yusuf Abramjee of Crime Watch tweeted the latest news of a longdistance passenger bus being stopped on one of our national roads and its passengers being violently robbed of personal belongings and money.

On the one hand, we have had the honour of having our Mother City being named the most beautiful city on Earth for six years in a row.

Our country is regarded as the powerhouse of Africa and superior in wealth compared with many others.

We are the only African member of the G20 group of countries. We are adept at organising world-class sport events and concerts and easily attract the outside world’s celebrities and sports people to our shores, yet no serious efforts are undertaken to protect our own citizens.

We strive to be the best or put our best foot forward, but for the past 20 years we have stayed bottom on the crime charts and nothing is being done to improve that statistic.

How is that possible? Something is wrong. How can Cape Town, the most beautiful city in the world, have the highest crime rate in the world? It’s a serious indictment on the powers that be and especially on our local DA government. The ongoing Brett Herron v the DA saga has shown that our local government has no time for the poor.

It is a small minority who give our country a very bad name. If all South Africans can admit that this small minority is born out of a neglected big disadvantaged majority and stems from the cunning way in which we were divided by the apartheid regime, then we as a collective will be able to move forward and solve most problems.

Amid all the doom and gloom surrounding our beloved country as far as our politics and crime are concerned, South Africa has for the past three years still outperformed all major currencies. It has been the strongest major currency against the dollar worldwide, note 70% of 160 of South Africa’s top bankers. They predict a good, strong ending for 2019 in the Business Insider SA.

There is so much hope and good going for South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa has been saying and doing all the right things.

All that remains is for us to give him a chance to change things to better the lives of all our people.

Nelson Mandela once said: “It always seems impossible until it is done.” Aluta continua!