Sometimes terrible news articles just pass you by, without even a second glance. It seems we as South African are getting so used to bad news, we are ‘bad news immune’, or suffer from ‘bad news overload’!
We all know rape is endemic in our society, but we do nothing about it, we carry on as if it is the norm. This is insanity of the highest order! What went wrong in our society that it is regarded by the authorities as acceptable that every 4 minutes a woman or child is raped in South Africa! They must regard it as acceptable because they do not do anything about it!
Then there is the story of the mutilation of innocence, this awful story from Bredasdorp. Reading the detail of it made me sick. I physically developed a pain in my chest. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. How could this be humanly possible? Why do we have to live in a country where inhuman “things” capable of such evil is walking the streets? This cannot even be described as barbaric, because in the most barbaric, uncivilised societies you do not find this level and prevalence of violence and rape, perpetrated against innocent victims!
After Anene Booysen was brutally gang raped, these “things” didn’t have enough. They slashed open her lower body and ripped out her intestines, and left her to die a slow and agonising death. Before she died, she managed to tell the doctor trying to save her life, that her attackers had put their hands inside her body and pulled out her intestines. “She lost a large part of her intestines. That is also why she didn’t survive,” said the doctor, who did not want to be identified. Police apparently found Anene’s intestines lying around her in the sand, while she was still alive. Are we really just a collection of furless, multi-coloured animals walking on our hind legs, because this is not the actions of human beings?
How dare the politicians that sat on their hands about this crisis in our country for years and years, now suddenly jump on the bandwagon, and try to score some political points out of the suffering of this poor girl. This has been carrying on in our country unabated, while the leadership, both politically and socially did nothing. “You sick bastards!” Every 4 minutes a woman or child is raped in this country! Of these less that 10% are reported to the police. Of this less than 10%, about 4% gets investigated. Of the 4%, 2 percent are prosecuted. Of this 2% less that 1% gets prosecuted successfully. I’ll leave it to the statisticians to work it out, but it is obvious that there is a very small minuscule decimal point of a possibility that any rapist will be held accountable for his crime.
Our legislation is completely inadequate, but nobody does anything about it! Our policing are corrupt, unprofessional and incompetent, but nobody does anything about it. Our judiciary is overloaded, incapable, lacks professional skills and drowning under the workload, but nobody does anything about it. Where are the leaders?
This is the same corps of leadership that said nothing when one of their own, a senior cabinet minister, was found guilty of gross domestic violence and abuse. In fact he is still “serving” in a senior position. These are the same people that when another one of their own, a senior ambassador representing our country, was found guilty of sexual harassment and gross misconduct, utilised everything in their power to vilify the victim, destroyed her reputation, and protected the perpetrator. This is the same bunch of idiots that celebrated with million rand drunken parties, when their president got off on a technicality from similar charges. They not only re-elected him, but elevated him as the paragon of virtue in society. This man leading us with his multiple wives, concubines, girl-friends, and still manages to impregnate his “friends” daughter during a social visit. Yet this is the man whose office issues moral statements after the Bredasdorp violation of all things human. It makes me sick!
A fish rots from the head down, and this is exactly what happened here in South Africa, with a completely immoral leadership, what do we expect is going to happen?
Where are the so called churched and religious organisations? Where are the socially responsible NGO’s and other community based social organisations? Where are the moral international community? Why don’t you people speak out against the obvious fall of the ‘freedom empire’? Why don’t you do your duty to your God, the people and your own conscience by speaking out against a political party, and leadership, and a president that is morally so bankrupt that they are incapable to provide any leadership at all? Do not stand and preach morality and righteousness from your pulpits and pedestals, while you congregate and fraternise with the greatest affronts to morality, just because you are too afraid, gutless or plain simple unwilling to do the unpopular thing, and take on the mighty rules of this cesspool we call a country!
Millions are spend on beautiful documentary films with emotion rousing music, commentary and visuals about the dream that come true in South Africa. How we miraculously avoided all out civil war and bloodshed, and became the poster child for freedom and democracy. We parade Hollywood stars and the likes of Bishop Tutu in front of the cameras telling all how wonderful we are. Why don’t you tell those mythical stories to Anene Booysens family?
The dream of a free South Africa died with Anene Booysen and all the other victims of this morally decaying, rotting society!
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