Reint Dykema on Solidariteit Blog
On March 9, 2010, more than 136 000 crime letters were delivered to President Zuma. Watch the S-tube video. Thanks to everyone who participated in the power of the collective.
Read the whole story and have a look at the photos at Solidariteit Blog…
Watch the documentary The stories of South Africans the president didn’t want to hear.
Dear Mr. Zuma
2% on crime is not enough
We looked forward to your State of the Nation Address with great anticipation. We were especially anxious to hear what you have to say about crime. Crime is ripping the country apart. Every day there are more headlines about murders. We don’t even read the stories about violent crimes that do not involve murder or rape, because such stories are no longer out of the ordinary. When something is no longer out of the ordinary, it has become the norm. We will not accept that attacks on our people are becoming the norm.
We see crime as the biggest problem in the country, because crime kills, rapes and tortures. Crime causes fear and causes people to flee. Crime damages general and investor interest in the country. Crime threatens the success of the Soccer World Cup and scares off tourists.
The government’s priorities were spelled out in your speech. Only 2% of your speech or 115 of your 4 411 words were devoted to crime. In other words, in a speech that lasted almost an hour, one minute was spent on crime.
You spent more time, or 132 words, welcoming guests of honour than talking about what you plan to do about crime. The Soccer World Cup and even your hotline received more attention than the issue of crime.
You spelled out clear outcomes for the government’s priority areas, but no clear outcomes were given for crime.
Of all the priority areas, crime received the least attention. The economy and job creation received 6,5 times more attention. Improvement of service delivery received 6 times more attention. Education and training received more than 3 times the attention. Health received almost double the attention given to crime. The fight against crime cannot be put on the back burner until the targets of these other priorities have been met some day in the distant future.
We as citizens of South Africa respond as follows to your State of the Nation Address: 2% on crime is not enough. We expect that you and the government do more about crime in South Africa. We expect clear outcomes.
Concerned citizens of South Africa
