Government and Justice
What would a reasonable person think the country ought to do to curb the scourge of violence, the runaway crime statistics, given the disorder and failure by the police to curb the escalating mayhem of lawlessness raging in our country?
Could the declaration of a state of emergency – a legal step that President Cyril Ramaphosa is empowered to consider under section 37 of the constitution– become an option?
Yet, the president prefers to sit on his hands as the cries of communities who want action to curb lawlessness and violence pervasive in our country reach a crescendo.
Lawlessness in this country has many faces. It masks itself in zama zama operations, the prevalence of mafia kingpins, illegal migration and undocumented immigrants, rampant violence committed by both foreign and local nationals and corrupt officials, among many others.
Police Minister Bheki Cele seems to have run out of ideas, and in many ways has proved himself to be incapable of giving the citizens of this country hope that crime and lawlessness will ever be stamped out.
But the central question remains, why is Ramaphosa and his cabinet not capable of thinking out of the box and resorting to doing what could be in the best
interests of the citizens?
Lawlessness committed with impunity has become a way of life – and there appears to be no solution to bring these human scourges under control.
Might it be that the declaration of a state emergency could be the relief the country requires?
Any state of emergency declared should never be seen as a permanent feature – its implementation should be of short duration but with clearly defined outcomes calculated at restoring peace and order.
There can be no question there is a visible fear that envelopes the country – in our homes, streets and churches. Fear, violence and crime have become ubiquitous. Sadly, and ironically, we hear of instances where the police clandestinely work with crime syndicates to undermine and subvert law and order.
In various radio talk shows this week, the focus was on safety, violence, and lawlessness.
The clear message gleaned from the talk shows was that millions of South Africans no longer see the South African Police Service (SAPS) as a credible entity to protect them from crime and violence. Law and order, it seems, have irretrievably broken down.
The SAPS is mandated by the constitution to prevent, combat and investigate crime, to maintain public order, to protect and secure the inhabitants of the country and their property, and to uphold and enforce the law.
But what happens when the citizens no longer have trust in the SAPS, seeing it more as a liability, an entity that subverts the very constitutional mandate they are supposed to uphold?
This brings us to what Ramaphosa might do if he were to put his mind to it, as a measure to save the country from being run down to the ground by criminal syndicates.
The country Ramaphosa presides over is in a shambles.
South Africans feel their country has been taken over by, among others, criminals of all shades, including undocumented foreign criminals who pose a security risk by virtue of not being undocumented, among other things.
Will the president listen to these cries of his people, or will he regard them as xenophobic, whose rationale is fuelled by xenophobic sentiments?
We are a democracy and should not discriminate against foreign nationals who are in the country legally, properly documented.
But we should be concerned when we hear that they too could be engaging in criminal acts – and this is not a far-fetched proposition.
The reality facing the country is that, with its limited resources, it would be intolerable if limited work opportunities were to be gobbled up by foreign nationals, and not by South Africans.
In the final analysis, it is the state – and the creation of a just criminal justice system bolstered by the constitution – that must protect communities from violent criminals whose aim is to undermine law and order.
The declaration of the state of emergency may just give the country a fighting chance to reset and calm raging waters.
We depend on you, Mr President.
- Mdhlela is acting news editor of Sunday World, an Anglican priest and former editor of the SA Human Rights Commission journal
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