SET AN EXAMPLE BY PUTTING RACIST IN JAIL

THE government’s failure to be part, let alone lead the debate on the mounting calls for a ban on pit bulls as domestic animals, is one of the factors that left a vacuum for racists to thrive.

There is absolutely no reason why the government through the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, Thoko Didiza, has not thoroughly and effectively communicated its stance on this raging debate.

At least tell South Africans what the government’s intentions are, when citizens, especially parents, are confronted with a situation where children are killed by these dogs almost daily.

This has been a role largely left to under-resourced animal welfare organisations to champion, further exposing the government’s lack of appetite for taking the lead on matters that could divide the nation. Already some have resorted to killing the animals in the most brutal manner. In the absence of this leadership come those who see an opportunity to spew their racist prejudices.

It becomes much more painful when people’s lives, especially children’s, are cut short. That is why in this editorial we want to make it clear that people’s lives, no matter the race, must come first. We therefore applaud the SAPS for wasting no time in arresting Belinda Magor, who incited violence against black people.

In a voice note, Magor apparently said in part: “What I say is ban the black man. They rape, they steal, they kill, worse than any pitbull could, and they get away with it. Ban those that are making the laws, ban Ekurhuleni, ban the black man. Get all the black women and cut out their uteruses and their ovaries that they cannot procreate because they will all turn out the same because they (are) all the same. I’m very passionate about this. Ban them, kill them, shoot them. Get rid of them because they are the problem. Not pit bulls, not animals. Who created the black man, do you think God? I don’t think so.”

Her outburst, which she blamed on her diabetes, spits in the faces not only of the grieving families, but the majority in this country. This kind of racism takes away the nation’s attention from a matter that we should all be seized with to find solutions.

Magor and those who think like her certainly have no place in our society, and if found guilty should serve time in jail.