Cait was attacked in her home this past Tuesday, which in itself was terrifying, and then she had to face the ordeal of being interrogated by our Police officers.
The Police Commissioner refuses to take this attack seriously, quite openly, and verbally told both Sarah and myself that Caitlin had made the whole event up. What really frustrates me and angers me is that the officers could see by the state that Caitlin was in and by the state of her flat that a horrible attack had happened and that the place had been ransacked. These people who we are supposed to trust and rely on and our taxes pay their salaries are untouchable and they rule with terror and have no problems breaking the laws they are there to enforce.
When the criminals run the country and the police force are not to be trained to do their jobs – this is when chaos reigns! Whom do we have to turn to in a time of crime, whom can we trust when we need their protection? The police are worse than the criminals are as they are supposed to protect us and they treat the victims as if they are the criminals. There is no support for victims of crime, there is no support for the damages they have to face, the costs of doctor bills and hospitalization, physiotherapy if required years or medical bills in some very bad cases plus replacing what they have stolen and damaged in the course of their rampage– there is no justice.
The victim is left with night terrors, years of fear – counselling is required and during this time they are expected to function and work and get on with their lives! Many a victim has lost their homes and belongings due to not being able to pay their bills as they try to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives. For some people there is no savings plan – no insurance policy so they fall into the depths of despair and are simply a spectator as they watch their lives crumble and everything they have worked so hard for disappear before their very eyes. For those unfortunate victims who had their bodies violated and their very souls ripped out by the attackers – there is no light at the end of the tunnel, there is no “it will heal in time” – there is no relief when the criminals are caught. They live with the memory of how they were violated and they never recover fully.
The criminals on the other hand sell the stolen goods at a price which makes ones blood boil – or they simply keep the goods are a memento of their act of violence to gloat over and re-live the event over and over again– if they ever get caught which is highly unlikely with our justice system – they get free lodge and board and free medical and then the cases is thrown out due to lack of evidence because the police did not follow procedure. What is this world coming to?
Our only form of defence against bad policing is to lodge a complaint with the Police Commissioner and when it turns out that he has been given false information by his officers and he refuses to take your complaint seriously you have only one more option! And that is to lodge a complaint with the ICD Independent Complaints Directorate. You do this in the hopes that someone will follow through and investigate the very people who are paid to protect the citizens of South Africa. Now you do this with very little hope of anything being done – but you do this as a way of making it known that the police are not doing their jobs. You do this in the hopes that someone is actually diligent in their work and will follow through – but you do this with a heavy heart because you may face victimization from the police (more than likely you will face victimization) and you fear that these Police will target the victim and their family and make their life a living hell. So you juggle with the decision as to how safe and how sound your decision is to challenge the Police!!!
Tell me – do you think this is right – that we live in fear of our own Police Force. They rule with terror, they make up the rules to suit them, and nothing is done to discipline them.
What are our choices. We do not want to leave our country – this is our country too – and go where? Only a small percentage of people qualify for the immigration conditions. $250 00, plus degrees, but why should we have to run from our country for safety – why do we have to accept that this is Africa and that it is inevitable that someone you know will be attacked, raped, killed, high jacked – we hear this every day and have become so numb to the horror of the amount of attacks and break ins and murders and rapes that we simply say –Thank God they didn’t…………… what ever – when in fact we should be saying HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN – IT HAS TO STOP NOW!
What is our legacy for our children and our future grandchildren, it is violence and how to deal with it and heal afterwards. Now that is one legacy we do not need to pass on generation to generation. I do not have the answers, I have many questions, and I will continue the fight against crime in our society – but until then, we need make sure our homes are secure – our alarms are activated, our children are safe, our dogs are safe from being poisoned and we have a security company on standby to react to a break in and do what the police are supposed to do for us.
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