Caning may be a good way to fight petty crime

PERHAPS Justice and Correctional Services Minister Michael Masutha should consider bringing back corporal punishment to reduce congestion in prisons.

In the bad old days, if you stole something and were arrested, you went straight to court.

If you were found guilty, you were taken to the court cells immediately and given a number of cuts with a cane. You were then free to go.

If you stole again on the same day or the next, and were found guilty again, the process was repeated, and so on. Sooner or later, the pain from your backside registered in your brain and you stopped stealing.

Perhaps if we had this back, the opportunistic petty crime would be reduced. This in turn would reduce the serious crime, as the vast majority of today's hardened criminals started out as petty criminals and have "progressed" onto bigger things, unchecked.

Dave Oldham, Redhouse, Port Elizabeth