About Bayanda Mzoneli
Bayanda Mzoneli is a public servant. He writes in his personal capacity.
There has been more than 4 burglaries at home in the past 4 years. Two of these burglaries happened despite the installation of ADT Alarm system. About more than a year ago, our neighbour had his car taken in the morning while he was leaving for work. About 2 years ago, another neighbour had had his new furniture stolen within weeks after moving in to his new house.
I do not know the crime rate in the neighbourhood of Hillview, Empangeni. I am lazy to check with the police station. I don’t think they have reliable statistics of that area, especially because 3 of the 4 burglaries at home went unreported. Not reporting those burglaries does not imply lack of confidence in the police, it’s just that we thought they had more serious work to do than trying to find a thief who stole my slippers, my classic Motorola Startac cellphone, my classic Ericsson T10, my young brothers’ smelling takkies and a handful of music CDs. The burglars are not dumb, it’s just we don’t have very many valuables at home.
I always like to think that police fight crime. I do not think they prevent it as such, unless each of us we to have their own police personnel looking after each on of us. Police respond to crime and arrest criminals after they have committed the crime. I think criminalising thinking about crime can help to reduce crime. Then we can use a polygraph to make the potential criminal confess of the crime they were going to commit and rehabilitate them on the spot.
Most criminals are born by mothers. They are then breastfed by their mothers. They grow up, go to school and play with their siblings, relatives and neighbours. Then they commit a crime and become criminals. I am not sure what happens between the time one is an innocent brother, sister, daughter or son to the time when they are a heartless murderer. Me thinks this is where crime is born. I doubt that the extinct scorpions or any other insects for that matter have a clue about the discovery I just made here about the evolution of a criminal. Hence I don’t understand why some people in South Africa are obsessed about them.
The ANC manifesto, among other things, says “The ANC government will… Mobilise communities to participate in combating crime through establishing street committees …” If communities participate actively in combating crime, they have a greater ability to succeed than having to rely on the police to respond to crime that has already happened. I think the street committees would be made up of parents and youth who may have evolved to be criminals but now are too busy protecting their communities from being terrorised by deviants. In this way the evolution of a criminal is thwarted while at the same time the evolved potential criminals denied the space to unleash their potential.
Then there is innocent friends who buy stolen goods. They are directly promoting theft. I doubt that thieves will continue to steal things that no one will buy. If I had it my way, innocent people who buy stolen goods would also be arrested. I don’t understand that why is it that if I can’t find parking in Durban and eventually park on the side of the road I become a criminal who is liable to a R300 fine, while a person who buys a stolen cellphone is left to use his stolen phone in peace.
The ANC manifesto continues and says “The ANC government will… Combat violence and crimes against women and children by increasing the capacity of the criminal justice system to deal with such violence.” These are serious crimes that need attention. I am very glad that the ANC is paying particular attention to such. I am hoping by the time my 2 year old daughter turns 10, we will no longer have people who say there is rape in South Africa every second. I am not sure where opposition parties get their statistics. If there was rape every second in South Africa then there would be exactly 2 592 000 people raped per month. I don’t understand why journalists or talk show hosts never ask these opposition parties that where did they get their statistic. At least the ANC does an honest analysis of the crime situation in the country, thus providing relevant solutions.
I am confident that as we try to buy more valuables at home, after the recession has ended, there won’t be burglaries anymore. I am confident that the ANC government will implement the solutions of safety and security as outlined in the ANC manifesto. I am confident that crime fighting personnel will continue to fight crime regardless of whether they are called Scorpions paid by the Department of Justice or they are called the Directorate of Priority Crimes Investigation (DPCI) paid by the Department of Safety and Security. I am also hoping that the parents of a future rapist will thwart the evolution of their child into a rapist, thus guaranteeing the safety of my daughter.
Government alone cannot win the fight against crime. Police alone cannot win the fight against crime. Communities alone cannot win the fight against crime. Clearly, the ANC is correct in saying “Working together we can do more.”