32 000 crime letters for Mbeki

2007-02-15 14:45

Pretoria - President Thabo Mbeki's office received 32 000 letters from victims of crime on Thursday, delivered in 30 wheelbarrows to the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

"We want to point out to the president that crime is more than statistics, that it's something that affects ordinary citizens of our country," said the trade union Solidarity's deputy secretary-general, Dirk Hermann.

The 30 people who were pushing the wheelbarrows included victims of serious crimes, with some coming from as far as Soweto in Johannesburg.

One such person was Charity Rasello, whose 26-year-old sister was severely assaulted and raped during the festive season last year. Her sister died a few days after the incident.

"Re kgathetse (we are tired), it is not right for these things to happen," she said, adding that what hurt the most was that the rapist was out on parole when he committed the crime.

"The pain will never go away, even if you paid me a million rand right now. The death penalty will help. We are just tired (of crime)" she said.

Bringing the victims to the president'

Hermann said the president's State of the Nation address listed things to be done but failed to empathise with crime victims.

"So we are bringing the victims to the president," he said.

Elias Ndlovu, a representative from the president's office, received the letters and said that they would be forwarded to the relevant people.

The letters were whisked away in police cars to "be delivered to the president's private office".

The president of Solidarity Youth, Ernst Roets, who was also part of the campaign said "Mbeki must act like a leader" and "listen to what the people are saying".

He said as a young person he was concerned about the number of young people leaving the country.

"Many want to come back but are worried about the crime problem," he said.

The peaceful marched was organised by Solidarity for its "Stop the Murders" campaign.

The letter campaign had resulted in the largest number of letters addressed to a South African president in one week, Hermann said.

- SAPA