What would you do if you were wanted for breaking and entering and the newspapers published a ratty old mugshot of you that the police had provided them?

Thank your lucky stars that you no longer resemble your pic and go down to the local for a celebratory pint?

OR

Decide this will not do and send in a more recent cheesy snapshot of yourself standing brazenly in front of a police van so that everyone will know how handsome you really are?

A vain Welsh burglar from Swansea chose the latter option. Police have thanked him for his help in tracking him down and the South Wales Evening Post published his updated profile pic on its front page.

I think right about now is a good time for him to turn himself in and decide on a new career choice, because any guidance councilor could tell him that being a career criminal is not going to pay out for him.

via Reuters.

IOL: Rape group accepts money from sex offender

This is how nations collapse, when we allow rich criminals to atone for their crimes by buying their way out of jail.

A wealthy Cape Town businessman, Jan Rabe, 42, has been allowed to accept a plea bargain in which he makes donations of R30 000 to Rape Crisis and Cape Mental Health each.

Rabe is the worst kind of sexual offender possible. He was found guilty of producing and being in possession of over 861 images of children engaged in sexual activities.

For this he received only a 5 year sentence, suspended for a mere 5 years if he makes the payments amounting to R60 000, enters a rehab program and does some community service.

This is a complete mockery of our criminal justice system. They are a joke. A disgusting prank at the public’s expense.

This is how nations crumble into dust.

On Friday, January 02 2009, a Soweto mother, Siphokazi Gontsi, was walking with her sister Zandile in Nyanga when she was accosted by two muggers who demanded her cell phone. She refused to hand it over, and in the struggle that ensued, she was pushed into the road by her attackers and the blanket holding her two year old baby daughter, Akhanya, to her back unwound and her child fell into the road where it was ridden over by a bus, killing it instantly.

Golden Arrow has suspended the bus driver who rode over the little girl and has said that disciplinary actions will be taken against him after their investigation has been completed.

Is this fair?

Was the bus driver really responsible for this tragedy? Shouldn’t the full blame rather be placed on the two muggers whose criminal behaviour led directly to the death of an innocent young child?

Source:
Bus driver suspended after toddler’s death

South Africans sick of “crime filled” South Africa often flee to England where they know they will be safe, because, as we all know, in First World countries, one can walk the streets at any time of night or day and no-one would dream of hurting you. Right?

Of course, this is naturally correct.

It therefore must be completely untrue, the following story on The Daily Mail, where a 55 year old man, terminally ill from cancer, was beaten to death by youths when he popped out to buy some fish and chips.

This must be incorrect. There must be some mistake. I’m sure they meant to report that this attack happened in South Africa. They must have gotten the country wrong.

So, don’t worry, England is waiting for you scared of crime South Africans.

You will be safe there. I promise.

On January 14 2008, South Africa was shocked by the random shootings of 11 ordinary (black) people in the Skielik settlement near Swartruggens. Johann Nel, a 17 year old white Afrikaner, was sentenced on Friday November 21 2008 to 176 years in prison for shooting his fellow South Africans, whose “crime” was being black.

Dr Irma Labuschagne, a forensic criminologist, testified at his trial in mitigation of his sentence, saying “I don’t think even he knows [why he did it].” I find that to be a disengenuous statement. I think it’s clear why he did it – he formed a deep and implacable hatred of black people, and from an early age too. Previously, at age 14, Johann Nel had shot at Petros Mabe, later testifying that he thought Mabe was a baboon. In hindsight it seems highly likely that this was a lie Nel told the court. Nel most likely knew full well that he was shooting at a black person and what is true is that Nel thinks of black people as being baboons.

What is very sad to me, is to read comments online of obviously white Afrikaans people defending Nel’s actions and justifying them by saying that black criminals routinely murder white people with no consequences. That is false, but it seems many white Afrikaners have decided that in their reality black South Africans get a free pass to kill white South Africans. Nothing could be further from the truth and they would quickly disabuse themselves of this racist and false notion by paying more attention to events which are reported in the media. They could also sit in on trials and witness for themselves black criminals being sentenced to long sentences for murder, rape, armed robbery etc.

No-one of any colour in South Africa is given a free pass to commit crimes against others. That is the truth of the matter and anything other than this truth is mere racist propaganda.

However, it is this ongoing racist propaganda, circulated amongst certain white South Africans that led to the deep disatisfaction and hate that spurred Johann Nel to commit his acts of murder in the first place.

At his trial, Labuschagne listed a number of criminal events that impacted Nel that she feels helped shape his views on black people. Essentially, the crimes perpetrated on members of his family and friends helped Nel decide that black South Africans were the problem and his personal enemy. Killing all black people was his way to solve the problem of crime against his (white) community.

It would perhaps be more forgiveable if Nel had taken the time and trouble to investigate and identify the actual people responsible for these crimes and execute them instead of random people who had nothing to do with the crimes that had touched his life. But this is the shortcut that racists take – they brand everyone with hate, instead of clinically targetting those responsible.

Yes, I know you’ve all heard the stories: South Africa is so full of crime, that the only sane recourse is to run away to dear old England where the Queen will keep you safe.

O RLY?

Before you terrified little people all run like a herd of stampeding pigs for Britain, please read this article:
Teenagers attack police officers who asked girl to pick up litter

Ja, so two cops axed (sic) a teenie girl ever so nicely to pick up her damn trash, and the next moment, they were surrounded by 30 aggressive teenies and two Limey men aged in their 30s who set about giving them two Limey coppers a thorough beating up.

Oh god, I would love to see this whole scene suddenly and magically transported to New York City, and then ten minutes later, do the body count.

Very funny article. I loved it. I especially loved the Limey commenter (on the article) writing from Russia telling ‘em that he moved out of Britain 30 years ago when he saw how the place was going. Get this, he fled Limey land for Russia in 1978! He preferred the Communist USSR over Britain. Hahaha!

And poor deluded South Africans are running TO Britain to escape crime, when for the past 30 years, Limeys have been running AWAY from Britain because of the crime.

That’s the problem with us South Africans – always at least 10 years behind everyone else.

On February 12 2008, 12 year old Emily Williams was shot and killed by armed robbers while she sat in her mom’s car outside the house that was being robbed. I wrote about this a week after the event and pondered why her mother had remained smack in the centre of the hot zone, when she had been concerned enough about the situation to call for help.

Now her family has recently announced that they’re emigrating to England because they no longer feel safe in South Africa. Well, as it turns out, when you read the IOL article you discover that they’re not emigrating at all. Roger Williams is British and so he’s going home. The only ones who are emigrating are his South African wife, Toni, and their daughter, Sophie.

Poor 10 year old Sophie, being dragged off to dreary dismal and unsafe England just because her mother failed to do the sensible thing and get clear of a dangerous situation.

The Williams protest that they feel everyone has a right to go about their business without having to worry about crime.

What a load of shit.

Thoughout history men and women and children have had to contend with the threat of crime and violence, threat of abduction into slavery, threat of rape, threat of being robbed at sword point, and threat of being killed. Crime will never ever ever disappear. We will always have crime in every single country on the face of this planet for as long as people are alive.

Even in Britain, there is crime for you to worry about. You will never find a place to run to which will offer you a crime free zone. It simply does not exist.

America is even safer than Britain and the reason is because America is flooded with guns. In America, if you feel threatened by crime, you go buy a gun, and many households have one. In some US cities, local laws compel each household to own a gun.

In Britain, if you feel threatened by crime, you can’t buy a gun. I actually don’t know what the hell you do in Britain if you feel threatened by crime. Maybe you emigrate to America?

Yes, it’s true. I’ve been thinking about what she said and about the various reactions to her, and right now I’m falling on the side of supporting her.

Here, for the first time, in the flesh is an ANC politician who is tough on crime. I think many South Africans had given up on ever experiencing this day, but it has come.

Probably the most controversial thing she said was her urging of policemen to ignore the Constitution of South Africa and just kill the bastards (referring to criminals).

"One-shot one-kill" Shabangu has told the police that they should not worry about firing warning shots anymore.

"Just kill the bastards."

Dammit, you just gotta love the whole concept. Killing criminals is yummy stuff.

But you know, I think we can go even one better than that. We can totally and utterly destroy criminals and dirty deal them all the way down the line. We don’t need to stick to our agreements with them. We can set them up, get them to dance to our tune and then kill them anyway. Just for kicks. Just because we’re pissed. Just because they deserve to die.

Take this article for instance. A gang of thugs attacked a man and his daughter, robbing them and gang-raping the woman. Now one of the young punks, a minor has pleaded guilty, turned state’s witness and is now offering testimony against the rest of his thugs for a reduced sentence. He confesses that he was the first to rape the woman.

Old enough to rape, old enough to die, in my opinion. Sure, tell him he’s got a deal, let him sing, get the convictions on the rest of the thugs and then snuff him anyway. Screw his deal. Screw honouring our word to a criminal thug rapist. Just snuff his ass when we’re done with him. We have no shortage of punk rapists and if we snuff out a couple of thousand maybe the rest of them will think very hard before pulling out their puny penises.

And if not, well we won’t have to think hard before wiping them out. It will have become an automatic reaction by then. See a rapist, shoot a rapist. No arrests. No paperwork. Just one clean kill. And the thanks of your community.

And as for the Constitution and the legality of all this? Like Susan Shabangu says, we ought not to worry about this because that’s her department. She’ll look after all the rules and regulations. The ANC has something like a 73% majority in Parliament which means they can amend the Constitution without obtaining any other political party’s agreement.

I think it could work.

How much sense does this make to you?

You’re a mom with kids in your car (including your own) on the way to school and you stop off to pick up another kid. Whilst sitting outside in your car, a suspicious man comes out of the house and ignores your questions as to who he is and then goes back into the house you are waiting outside.

So you call Chubb Security (and only them, not also the police). Then you wait outside the house for security to arrive, instead of driving off to a safe distance. Then when security arrives, the criminals inside the house open fire on the security guards and one of your daughters inside your car is hit and killed.

Does it make sense to hang around in a potential battle zone with or without kids?

This is what happened on Tuesday, February 12 2008 to Emily Williams, a 12 year old grade 7 pupil, whose mother did not think to get clear of the area. Only after the gun battle erupted and after her daughter had been struck did she think it was now a good time to drive off, vainly trying to reach medical aid in time to save her daughter.

That’s like standing on the beach watching the tsunami waves rolling in, calling for help and only thinking of flight once the waves are already crashing over your head.

Surely it makes sense to run for high ground first and then call for help?

What was that mother thinking? Am I being insensitive for second guessing a woman who has just lost one of her daughters to crime?

Obviously, I am saddened by the loss to violent crime of yet another young person, but reading the account on iAfrica it just struck me how irrationally that mother behaved.

What do you think about this?