P o Box 21287
Roshnee1936
Vereeniging
21 September 2007
The Editor
Vereeniging Ster
P O Box 351
Vanderbijlpark
1900Dear Sir
High crime rate in South Africa
I am writing this letter to express my concern of the high crime rate in South Africa and my community.
As a citizen of South Africa I feel that my right to ‘safety and security’ and also the ‘right to life’ are being violated on a daily basis. This feeling is not only being experienced by me but also by those around me and by the community. We, the citizens of South Africa, fear for our life, possessions and loved ones every day with out fail.
Every person in this country has been affected by crime either directly or indirectly at some time in their lives. Just last month a close family member was hijacked in the quite town of Lydenburg. It wasn’t long after that that there was a break in attempt at my own home. In the previous week it is said that two men walked into a ladies home at about 8:45. They hit the domestic unconscious and stabbed the owner in the upper arm. They got away, once again, with the ladies possessions including her jewelry.
Common assault is down 8.7 percent, common robbery is down 5.8 percent, indecent assault is down 5.5 percent, rape is down 5.2 percent, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm is down 4.9 percent and attempted murder is down 3 percent.
However, despite the overall decrease, there has been an increase in two categories: provoked robbery and murder, which went up by 4.6 percent and 2.4 percent respectively.
Even though the crime rate has dropped as shown by statistics, it is still ridiculous as to what we have to go through. Prison does not seem to help in this country, are we been forced to introduce the death penalty? Without a doubt it raises a question in my mind: What will be the ultimate punishment for criminals?
Sincerely yours,
Azeeza Saloojee
Statistics obtained from:
www.allafrica.com
www.nationmaster.com
