diaz

So I watched a movie documentary last night called Murder Most Foul about the murder of a young succesful local actor Brett Goldin and his childhood friend Richard Bloom. It was a sensless murder (as most are) that left the country in a state of rage at the out of control violence that exists in South Africa since the fall of apartheid in 1994.
The film delved into the underbelly of crime in South Africa and what it revealed is frightning.

These are the crimes that occured in South Africa between 1998 and 2000

Assaults 535,461
Car thefts 99,963
Kidnappings 11 kidnappings
Murders 21,995
Murders (per capita) 0.496008 per 1,000 people
Murders with firearms 31,918
Murders with firearms (per capita) 0.719782 per 1,000 people
Rapes 53,008
Rapes (per capita) 1.19538 per 1,000 people
Total crimes 3,422,740

I would love to say that these statistics have improved since then but the reality is that they have not.
Now I don't post these horrible figures to be 'negative' about my country. I love this country and I am an African in my heart and soul. I just think that people need to be aware of what is going on.
Maybe by creating some kind of awarness people can make a difference.

We fought for freedom from oppresion in South Africa and won, but we now face a new kind of oppresion in fear. There was a woman in the film from Kayalitcha, a poor township in Cape Town and she said something that kept me awake last night. She said that her people fought for freedom and celebrated when that had supposedly been acheived. All she wanted was to be able to have a job and the ability to buy herself nice clothes, she now fears that her clothes will attract 'skollies' (theifs) so even though she may be able to afford nice things she doesn't buy them for fear of being robbed. Thats not freedom.

To quote Archbishop Desmond Tutu, we live in a deeply traumatised society, moreso than we realise.

The simple fact is that South African people have a spirit that anyone who visits this country will be touched by, we are young and struggling to find our feet.
We have some of the most beautiful land in the world and wildlife that only Africa can provide.
I feel deeply saddened by the way that we treat each other, I think this is a worldly problem though...

To leave this rather depressing blog on a more hopeful note I will quote the great Nelson Mandela...

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."