Fight township crime by giving skills, education
TO say it was shocking to see the story about a temporary cancellation of a project in New Brighton, because of criminals, is an understatement ("Crime sees NMB event scrapped", June 3). One could not be sadder at the notion that the community has resorted to prayer as a form of exorcism of the demon of the shootings taking place every week in our township.
This is my attitude: in any society where there are few or no positive role models, young people will look at what they have at their disposal, giving credence to the old saying of "in the land of the blind, a one-eyed man is king". The most unfortunate part of the problems of crime in our metro specifically is that, with a few exceptions, they are self-inflicted, much as one may be tempted to point a finger outside – even apartheid to a certain extent easily escapes liability.
As argued a number of times by a large number of people, the abnormal number of liquor outlets in townships is a matter of concern. In fact, if it were not for the possibility of being sued, prominent names of business people and politicians would be listed as being culprits in the decay of our region.
Former political leaders are using our boundary walls as urinals every weekend when they come from their comfort zones to "show face" during their spare time. You will see many park their flashy vehicles, blocking our driveways, with very young girls and doing unmentionables.
South Africa will never be like it was in the '70s, '80s or even the early '90s as well as periods that preceded these eras for a very simple reason: we are free, we are not the same, we no longer eat from the same bowls nor do we drink from the same vessels. Whether expressly or tacitly so, the absence of leadership creates a vacuum for criminals to occupy political space in our townships, and whether rightfully or wrongfully so, they earn the right to be worshipped by youngsters.
This habit of "bling", "big" and "latest" has killed the moral fibre for many aspire to acquire assets in a very short space of time, perpetrating the issue of ill-gotten material.
If we look at our so-called prominent business people, we will discover that, in a number of instances, they are not true entrepreneurs. Many of them went into business subsequent to the miracle of 1994 and in fact the lifeline of their bank balances is the state, whether through its departments, municipalities and/or agencies.
Sporadic protests, which are also criminal acts, are the same as armed robberies, murders etc. But because of the deliberate jaundiced view we take, we treat them differently.
Of the many solutions, I believe people need to be educated, people need to be given skills. Show the people of Walmer and other townships how to generate their own alternative electricity, which they can sell to the municipality.
Show them the power of co-operatives, not by immediately giving R500000 to people who never had R10000 in their lives, and slowly we will see the fruits in a very short space of time. Or we can hope, like the first Christians 2000 years ago, that the end is nigh and Jesus or some sort of divine intervention will rescue us from ourselves.
Unathi Dulwana, New Brighton, Port Elizabeth
