Durban - The Motor Industry Staff Association(MISA) said there is nothing for South Africans to celebrate this Freedom Day as kidnapping in the country is four times higher than ten years ago.
Martlé Keyter, chief executive officer of MISA, said kidnappings for ransom and extortion is a booming business in SA.
Keyter said the theme of South Africa’s national celebrations for Freedom Day this year is Consolidating and Safeguarding Democratic Gains.
“But what did we gain if we can’t leave our homes 29 years after the first democratic elections, knowing that we will be safe?” asked Keyter.
Keyter said just last week, ten members from the same family, including seven women and three men, were killed by gunmen in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal.
“It is no longer mainly women and children that are targeted. It is anyone. We are faced with a pandemic of gender-based violence and a bloodbath of violent crime,” she said.
“Crime is the main reason why more than 6 000 South Africans emigrated last year, having a direct impact on the eroding tax base of the South African Revenue Service.”
MISA said Police Minister Bheki Cele promised in February, when he released the quarterly crime statistics, that more police officers would be deployed and their impact will be felt.
“But on 17 March 2023, President Cyril Ramaphosa had to deploy more than 3 400 members(Operation Prosper) of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to help the police fight crime,” said MISA.
The Association noted that Operation Prosper was scheduled to end on April 17, 2023.
“South Africans are not safe, even in their own homes and can’t enjoy freedom. The current situation makes a mockery of the immeasurable sacrifices made by so many individuals for all of us to enjoy freedom,” said Keyter.
MISA believes that the Government must take urgent action to ensure that it adheres to the Constitution.
“According to the Constitution, everyone has the right to freedom and security of the person, which includes the right not to be deprived of freedom arbitrarily or without just cause; not to be detained without trial; to be free from all forms of violence from either public or private sources and not to be tortured in any way,” Keyter said.