Angry South Africans take law into their own hands (This is widespread; video available)

SABC News (South Africa) ^ | October 9, 2005

[Stoat]

Angry South Africans take law into their own hands

October 09, 2005, 19:00
 

Communities around South Africa are angry with the police and there have been a spate of mob justice assaults and killings in the last 24 hours around the country.

People are fed up with police inefficiencies and many are now taking the law into their own hands. In Soweto two people died and one critically injured at the hands of the community. They alleged the men had been terrorizing people in Protea South in Soweto.

The survivor is in a critical condition in hospital. Residents say police took too long to get to the scene. No arrests have been made and the police have once again called on people not to take the law into their own hands.

In Eldorado Park, another 40 people have been arrested following yesterday's violent protest at the police station. Police used rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse the crowd which demanded that Gairoenisha Lee's alleged murderer be handed back to them.

Police are conducting an internal investigation into allegations that they did not respond in time.

            

[Stoat]

This appears to be a widespread trend throughout several SA cities.  More detail is available via the video.

If the video link doesn't work through the Free Republic system, you can open up the original web page and activate it there:

SABCnews.com - south_africa-crime1justice

The video is in the RealAudio format.  If you don't have or don't want the RealAudio player on your system, there are several RealAudio alternatives available that will still play RealAudio format files and streams.  One of my favorites is Jet Audio, which offers a free version.  You can learn more about that here:

COWON America

(scroll down to the bottom of the page and select the link for JetAudio 6)

[Ninian Dryhope]

Not surprising, really.

[gcruse]

Looks like the new boss is worse than the old boss.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Bush's fault.

[Americanexpat]

Rememeber reading an article a couple of years ago of three serial rapists apprehended by a community in S. Africa and they were tied to a tree and whipped almost to death by the women in the village. Sounds okay to me.

[cake_crumb]

What?!?!?!?!?! Anarchist rule in the Utopia of Mandellaland?!?!?!?!? Say it isn't so!!!!! /sarcasm

Oh...it's Bush's fault for not having cured AIDS, of course.

[Ninian Dryhope]

You should hear what they do to those witches when they catch them.

[spetznaz]

Agreed.

[11th_VA]

Can you believe the World Cup is scheduled to be played there in 2010?

[Stoat]

You should hear what they do to those witches when they catch them.

Africa Nigerian lynched for witchcraft

[cake_crumb]

"Hi illi rex regalis ex regis"

My Latin's rusty, but I THINK that's right. An old axiom.

[Stoat]

Can you believe the World Cup is scheduled to be played there in 2010?

If this trend continues and / or escalates, they will have few options other than cancellation of the event, nationwide martial law, or humiliation when nobody shows up for the event.

Corruption is so rampant and integrated into the Government culture that I doubt reform is possible at this point.

[SC Swamp Fox]

Can you believe the World Cup is scheduled to be played there in 2010?

A lot of those soccer fans will feel right at home.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

Not at all.

[BurbankKarl]

sounds like New Orleans.

[radar101]

If the police raced to the scene, and arrested the thugs, they would be criticized.

If they shot the thugs, they woulod be called murderers.

What's left--Oh, yeah...let the Locals handle it.

[Stoat]

sounds like New Orleans

The corruption sounds similar, but one important difference is that one of the things that the police tried to do in New Orleans was to confiscate legally-owned firearms from law-abiding citizens.  In South Africa I don't believe that it's legal for anybody to own guns at all, so the citizens use other tools when the government fails them.  Things become medieval very quickly in a society that doesn't provide people with basic protections and also refuses to allow them to protect themselves effectively.

[Riverman94610]

So lets all sing the chorus-
"Ding dong,the witch is dead,witch old witch,the wicked witch
Ding dong the wicked witch is dead"

[Dick Vomer]

Zimbabwe and South Africa are the New Orleans of Africa.....

[bdfromlv]

there are videos of a child rapist in what appears to be pakistan or a philipino and they execute him by sitting him on a 5 ft stake, gravity fed slowly.