"Kill a woman,steal a TV"

An innocent woman was senselessly shot dead by fleeing armed robbers in the driveway of a petrol station in Johannesburg. Woman shot at filling station She was minding her own business and was no threat to the robbers. In Durban, a woman was shot to death by armed robbers, this time in broad daylight on a busy street. Durban woman shot on pavement Yesterday another woman, shot dead in her house by robbers, for a TV set, was buried. Murdered mother laid to rest

These senseless acts, many similar acts and the daily raids on shopping centres fly in the face of promises made by Jacob Zuma, Mthetwa, Mbalula and Cele.

Having been a victim of armed robbers on two occasions, I am concerned and worried. I find it particularly difficult to understand why these violent criminals have to kill their victims, often in the most savage manner. Thanks to the police, the anti-gun lobby and with the assistance of the new firearms act a great number of firearms were transferred from legal and registered owners to criminals. Reports of missing guns handed to the police are rife. The criminals must know they have the balance of firepower, they know - in most cases - the victims are unarmed yet they still kill them.

This begs the question, why the senseless killings? I came up with quite a few possibilities ranging from naked hatred of assorted things, to xenophobia, hunting instincts, hero worship, obsessive-compulsive-behaviour syndrome (CBS), fear of prosecution, lack of life-skill education and projection.

We have already seen the effects of xenophobia in South Africa and in many cases; the robbers consider their victims "non-indigenous" and therefore fair game. Many robbers believe they have to kill the victim in order to get what they want. Complicated psychological conditions like, Borderline Personality Disorder, various forms of CBS , Bi-Polarity and heaven knows what else, contribute to the apparent senseless killings stemming from the seemingly petty robberies.

It is obvious that the government and police can solve the problem by establishing sufficient number of lunatic asylums that will cope with the abnormally high levels of insanity prevailing in the country. Potential lunatics can be locked away in padded cells where they will pose no threat to society.

Ray McRawley, with the Vlok and Niehaus can be the tasked to, at school level, institute a programme teaching brotherly love. This may cure the tendency of schoolchildren to develop a "hate of assorted things", which as we see manifests itself later in life in a desire to kill.

Potential robbers must also realise, the killing of victims to prevent identification in the unlikely event of a prosecution, is unnecessary.

Jacob Zuma, in his first 100 days, has clearly not made the impression on crime he promised. Whilst the Minister and the Deputy-minister are playing the “Mine-is-bigger-than-yours” game and Bheki Cele takes a grand tour, people continue to die at an ever-increasing rate. Given the number criminals in the police, the incompetence of others, the corruption at high levels and the ease with which dockets disappear, I fail to see how Cele's shoot to kill attitude will change the situation.