Where are we heading?

Submitted by Robert Hamer

If you were to ask my friends and family, you would probably find me to be one of the most optimistic people about South Africa. At every opportunity I speak with great vigour and defend my country to all the assaults that are launched on it — from crime and corruption to racism and poverty.

I speak of times of opportunity, as my son (now five years old) is receiving a completely integrated education and is oblivious of race and any of the country’s previous indiscretions. I dream of him working side by side with people in a country that appreciates what he brings to it and the contributions he makes to society as an integrated individual.

Yet, he has barely turned five and he refers to the “baddies” who came into our house and took our DVD player, among other items — twice in his short lifetime we have been the victims of intrusions into our house as we slept.

The standard responses range from “You were lucky nothing else happened,” “Why did you not put the alarm on?” and “It could have been worse,” to it being part of the adventure of living in South Africa.

Some claim that this crime wave is acceptable as we are a country of extremes, one of extreme poverty where people have little or nothing. Yet surely this situation is worsened by people not only living in poverty but also in fear? One has a slim chance of earning a rand or two, as unemployment is rife. Then add the fact that on the way home, one risks being robbed, assaulted, raped or even murdered.

Yes, I refer to this as our country, “our” meaning those of us who were born here, and I am a solid citizen who rarely worries. I aim to remain positive as often as possible, to see the glass as half-full rather than half-empty. But I look at things, and I wonder where we are heading as a country, a country gripped by crime, where we seem to value life less and less each hour.

There are times where one looks at crimes committed by gangs such as the “Sandton knife gang”, and one could say that those are race crimes, to some extent, but then, at my factory, I look at my staff and listen to their stories. In the past 12 months, not one of them (among 42 people) has not been hit by crime. Beaten, stabbed, raped, children raped, houses stripped and goods removed while on holiday, cellphones stolen, wallets stolen … the list goes on.

These are black South Africans against black South Africans; there is no race issue. These are just people who are jealous of others, jealous of what they have, people who won’t go out and obtain these things through their own efforts but would rather take what others have worked for.

It makes me incredibly sad that my staff — who are hard working, who pay their bills and educate themselves — are living in fear of their peers. The affluent have insurance, if they are lucky, while these hard-working people trying to lift themselves out of the pit of poverty through their own efforts are preyed upon by those who see them as a quick means to an end, the sexual fix they need through rape or a way to obtain the status symbol they need through theft and murder.

My question is: What can we do? How can we start to turn this cycle of crime around? How do we teach people to respect one another, to respect others’ possessions? How can I do something? I know I need to do something, but this is a huge problem facing almost every tier of society. How does one begin to transform it so that five years down the line we can turn around and say this county has truly changed?

What is a democracy when your neighbours have no respect for the law of the country, do not respect those who live on their street and cross every moral barrier to obtain what they desire, irrespective of what their actions may do to others?

Let’s look at the facts for what they are: crime is affecting every single citizen. It is filling everyone’s life with fear and it is not the political race card people want to make it out to be! How do I go about calling a referendum? If the people want crime under control, how do they make the government listen?

Robert Hamer loves his country, its diversity and the opportunities it carries for all. He believes we can live as an integrated society, but right now crime threatens to destroy us as individuals. Above all he wants to know that each and everyone will be safe in a country of which we can be proud