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As sick and tired as I am of seeing photos of and reading articles about the violence, rape and murders in South Africa every day, I WILL NOT advocate for the death penalty and here is why:
1. NOBODY has the right to take another’s life, including the State; calling it the “Death Penalty” does not change the fact that it is the taking of a human life
2. The Death Penalty is a SYMPTOM of a culture of violence, NOT a solution to it.
3. Execution is irreversible; too many people have been found innocent after the fact
4. We are already sitting with an inept, corrupt government that is more interested in giving jobs to buddies and family than employing someone who is actually qualified for the job… will you trust YOUR life to this government (or any government to come)?
5. The Death Penalty is too open to Political Abuse
6. Today it will be the Death Penalty for Murder; tomorrow it is the Death Penalty for being Homosexual, for being Mentally Challenged, for being an Albino, or for insulting the King or painting a naked picture of the President, etc. etc.
7. The Death Penalty is DISCRIMINATORY: Many of those given the Death Penalty internationally (including many innocents) are poor and unable to afford good legal counsel whereas the rich can, so can get away with murder more easily or get lighter charges levelled against them, hence lighter sentences
8. Hundreds of studies and research done over MANY decades have proven that the Death Penalty IS NOT a deterrent:
a. The five countries with the highest homicide rates who also have legal capital punishment are Jamaica, El Salvador*, Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago and Lesotho, with an average between them of 46.6 homicides per 100,000 people.
b. The five such countries who have abolished the death penalty for all crimes are Honduras, Venezuela, Colombia, South Africa and Ecuador, with average homicides of 41.3 per 100,000 people.
c. Recent crime figures from abolitionist countries fail to show that abolition has harmful effects. In Canada, for example, the homicide rate per 100,000 population fell from a peak of 3.09 in 1975, the year before the abolition of the death penalty for murder, to 2.41 in 1980, and since then it has declined further. In 2003, 27 years after abolition, the homicide rate was 1.73 per 100,000 population, 44 per cent lower than in 1975 and the lowest rate in three decades. (Reference: Roger Hood, The Death Penalty: A World-wide Perspective, Oxford, Clarendon Press, third edition, 2002, p. 214)
d. States in the United States that do not employ the death penalty generally have lower murder rates than states that do. The same is true when the U.S. is compared to countries similar to it. The U.S., with the death penalty, has a higher murder rate than Canada or the countries in Europe which do not use the death penalty.
e. People who commit murders normally either do so in a fit of passion or anger, while under the effects of drugs, or in the commission of a crime. They NEVER Stop to think about whether they are going to get caught or not, or weigh up whether their actions might end up in them being executed at some future date many years down the line or just put in jail.
We need to PREVENT crime where possible, not punish it after the fact!
So, as I am a person who believes in coming with solutions not a problem:
1. Get rid of all the corruption in government OR get rid of the current government
2. Corrupt officials in government must BE SEEN to be HELD ACCOUNTABLE
3. Teach children from a young age that violence and crime is not right – and teach them accountability
4. Our standard/quality of education needs to be DRASTICALLY improved so that more people can either get jobs or make a living for themselves
5. The Government and Political Youth Groups need to worry less about statues and renaming streets, towns etc. and rather instil a sense of pride and accountability in the youth
6. MORE training programs need to be made available for youth after schooling; NOT EVERYONE is suited to an academic career and not everyone is bright enough to go to university or even college, no matter what nationality, gender or race – there are MANY GOOD jobs that need to be done that DO NOT require a Diploma or a Degree – Government needs to start stressing that doing a more humble job is NOT demeaning!
7. DO NOT ALLOW Politicians to just say whatever they want to, including advocating lawlessness and violence. The people on the ground take their lead from the Leaders, however unqualified they may be and however wrong their statements may be. When a Political Party or a Politician makes inflammatory statements or uses inciteful language they must be FINED HEAVILY the first time and kicked out of parliament the second time. POLITICIANS MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE!
8. Put MORE BOOTS ON THE GROUND in the form of VISIBLE POLICING – by adequately TRAINED, QUALIFIED, FIT and UNCORRUPT members of SAPS who are VIGILANT enough to prevent most crime.
9. SAPS must also ensure that all the crime-scene work and paperwork is 100% correct so that criminals do not get off on technicalities
10. The Judicial System must be overhauled with MORE and more competent members so that criminals do not get away with crimes or get too light a sentence
We cannot continue this attitude of trying to level the playing field by bringing those in a better position down; we need to bring those in a lower position UP!!!
And lastly, the government needs to reverse the culture of a “nanny State” that it created; there is NO SUCH THING as getting something for nothing.
Instead of giving out Billions in grants (except to the elderly and the handicapped), make people WORK for the money or tell them that if they want a grant then they MUST attend some type of job, trade or entrepreneurial training for a specific period of time, after which they will be helped to get a job or open a small business and the grant must stop 6 months after that!
NOBODY can be “on the dole” forever; it bankrupts the country, uses money that could/should be used for other things, and disempowers the person receiving the money.
The same goes for housing – it MUST BE PAID FOR even if it is a minimal amount, but one attaches NO VALUE to something one gets for free – when one works hard for something it becomes something of value!
STOP DISEMPOWERING THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH AFRICA; EMPOWER THEM AND INSTIL A SENSE OF PRIDE, DIGNITY AND ACHIEVEMENT IN THEM INSTEAD!
HAPPY AND PROUD PEOPLE WHO HAVE DIGNITY AND AN INCOME DO NOT COMMIT CRIME!
