Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota promises that young people will be encouraged to take up voluntary military conscription to fight crime should the party win the forthcoming national and provincial elections.
Furthermore, a Cope government would seriously consider bringing back the death penalty.
Lekota said crime in the country had gotten out of control, and the youth must be trained to defend the country against crime.
The former ANC national chairperson was speaking at Cope’s manifesto launch in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria yesterday. According to Lekota, criminals are running amok because the majority of citizens are not equipped to defend themselves.
It was for this reason that Cope would do what the apartheid regime did with youngsters, called them up for military training. However, a Cope government would let young people decide whether to join or not.
“If you are a criminal, you are an enemy of the people of South Africa. And we, the people of South Africa, are entitled to defend ourselves,” said Lekota.
“Anyone who kills the people of South Africa must be met with resistance from us; we will also eliminate them.”
This is where military training comes in, added Lekota, saying the young will not only benefit from physical and shooting skills in the military but also learn a thing or two about patriotism.
“We did away with conscription because apartheid used to collect only young white people and use them to kill us. That is why our people took up arms and defended themselves,” said Lekota.
South Africa is in an untenable position as far as crime is concerned, he said, and meeting the brute force of criminals with brute force was the only way out.
Lekota suggested that most of the crime in the country was the result of illegal foreigners.
Lekota said it was an internationally recognised law for any country to defend itself from external people who bring in chaos.
Lekota said it was also high time for South Africa to ponder the question of the death penalty for murderers.
In his view, it was an abomination for taxpayers to feed and house violent criminals in “prisons that are like hotels”.
Said Lekota: “We want to take decisive action to eliminate (hang) those who eliminate our people. South Africans must come to terms with this.”
