Zuma gets 136 000 crime letters
2010-03-09 19:05
Cape Town - Well-known Western Cape victims of crime accompanied Solidarity trade union to Parliament on Tuesday to present about 136 000 anti-crime letters to President Jacob Zuma.
The grandfather of the murdered baby Jordan, Vernon Norton, the mother of murdered Nadine Jantjies, Francina Jantjies, and Megan Kaimowitz, who also lost a daughter due to crime, helped Solidarity officials push ten wheelbarrows containing the letters to the gates of Parliament outside Tuynhuys, Zuma's office.
They then joined the Solidarity delegation, led by deputy secretary-general Dirk Hermann, for a discussion with Zuma in Tuynhuys on crime in South Africa.
Priority
Solidarity recently launched a campaign in which ordinary South Africans were invited to send messages to the president in which they asked for the fight against crime to be the number one priority.
An earlier attempt by the union, on February 16, to hand over about 23 000 letters, failed when presidency officials refused to accept them.
Subsequently, Solidarity continued its campaign, and Zuma then indicated he would personally take delivery of the letters.
Hermann said the public's reaction to the campaign had taken Solidarity totally by surprise.
"We initially aimed for 10 000 messages to the president, but nobody expected it to exceed 100 000."
"This reaction shows how strongly South Africans feel about crime. Crime affects everyone in South Africa," Hermann said.
The public were asked to send letters via a website, and those without internet access could also send SMSes.
- SAPA