Criminals have chosen the week before Christmas to run amok in packed malls and this should not be accepted as normal, says IOL's News Editor Lou-Anne Daniels.
Cape Town – What was supposed to be a quick trip to finish last-minute Christmas shopping turned into a nightmare when the minibus taxi my daughter and I were travelling in was robbed at gunpoint.
I usually avoid using taxis as a rule, but emboldened by my street-savvy teenaged daughter, who uses taxis on a daily basis to commute to school, I swallowed my reservations and hopped aboard. On the main road we were flagged down by two men posing as potential passengers, who then robbed the taxi driver and his guard. We managed to get away, and walked the rest of the way to the mall.
Although I had been receiving messages about mall robberies that were happening all over Cape Town throughout the morning, I somehow felt confident that we would be safe. Besides, I still had a few errands to run and there was no way I was going to spend another day shopping.
When we arrived at the mall, which had also been robbed earlier, there was an extremely tense atmosphere, but only a handful of police in evidence. The usual (unarmed) mall security guards seemed to be more alert but everything appeared okay.
We were hit by the reality of the situation when we went into the first store. Visibly shaken staff and edgy customers were trying to maintain an air of normality, but the tension was palpable. I couldn’t help looking over my shoulder, clutching my handbag tighter and finishing my shopping as quickly as possible.
We left the mall and went to our regular butchery, which coincidentally was also held up this morning. Here, because it’s a small family business, the impact was much more “real”. The absolute devastation on the faces of the staff and the owner was heartbreaking.
But business had to go on.
It struck me as bizarre that we were actually trying to act as if this was normal. That is, until I realised that for many people in urban areas in South Africa this is a daily reality.
We have become so desensitised to the danger because it is always there.
As a 40-odd-year-old I’ve had my fair share of encounters with pickpockets and common thugs. I’ve been robbed at knifepoint twice, and my 22-year-old son is no stranger to the dangers of Cape Town’s streets either. But this is different.
Thugs aren’t lurking in the dark, or on street corners or secluded roads. They are bringing their violence to the public. And they don’t care who they hurt.
They have chosen the week before Christmas to run amok in packed malls where families are doing their much-anticipated holiday shopping. No thought is spared for little children and the elderly, all of whom are just collateral damage in the war criminals are waging.
Almost everyone I spoke to has commented on the fact that no attempt is being made to conceal their faces. Even the thugs who robbed the taxi were “regular” guys who were comfortable being seen by everyone who passed. It is as if they believe that they are untouchable.
Police officers have been rendered powerless by the lax laws and an overburdened legal system. Judges are handicapped by the law which seems to regard the rights of criminals as more important than their victims. Human rights have made common crooks brazen.
My sincere wish for 2017 is that our government commits itself to taking a hard look at the sorry state that the country is in.
We need the people in power to stake a stand against crime. Tougher laws and real sentences, which will act as a deterrent, are needed. But most of all, we as ordinary citizens need to exercise or right to demand that our elected officials do the jobs that we chose them for.
I'm shocked that a country that is celebrating 20 years of our "new" Constitution could be held captive by lawlessness.
We need to take a collective stand against all crime, but we also need to hold the criminals accountable in a manner that will make them truly think twice before unleashing terror on our city again.