Serious crime in South Africa has reached unacceptable levels. My appeal, with most of the country, is that SA brings back the death penalty for serious crimes.

We did have the death penalty for serious crimes many years ago and crime was well controlled then. Now crime is out of control.

The police have failed miserably. They are also human, and probably shy away from serious crime themselves. They have families as well and want to protect themselves. There is so much crime in SA but we do not have sufficient policing and, of course, we do not have the money to employ more police.

There are many firearms in the hands of the public from pre-apartheid years. Guns were smuggled in from other countries. Police also report their guns as stolen, and those firearms are with the public.

Please SA, bring back the death sentence by public hanging immediately and you will see investors flocking to SA and business will be booming. Unemployment will be a thing of the past.

The death penalty is not barbaric. Many countries have it. All the Islamic countries have death by stoning and crime is almost zero there.

SA has a very absurd punishment for serious criminals, and that is life imprisonment. This is a ridiculous way of dealing with serious criminals. If anything, it encourages serious crime. In prison, free food, free clothes, exercise and TV entertainment are provided free. What kind of deterrent is this?

So my appeal to SA is, bring back the death penalty and save South Africa from the hands of criminals.

* Kisten Pillay, Cape Town.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.

Cape Argus

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