South-Africa is a great country, just a pity that there is so much crime. These are the words I here from so many different South-Africans living all around the world. I am a South-African currently living in Ireland and it saddens me to hear these words and yet nobody seems to be doing anything about it.

It seems that not one day goes past without Hijacking, Murder, Robbery and wait the latest ATM bombs. Robbers now use plastic explosives to bomb ATMs. Major roads are marked with signposts reading hijacking hotspot. I don't know if these signs are there to warn people or tell the criminals that this is a good spot for hijackings. People are shot in there houses while sleeping. All these things occur on a daily basis, but the South-African government claim that there is no problem with crime in the country. A human life no longer has any value. Is it necessary to kill someone for a cellphone?

When looking back when I was living in South-Africa, these things were happening all around me, and it was as if it was normal. Nothing about killing another human being is normal. When you leave South Africa and look back, it is as if a burden has been lifted from your shoulders. When you drive your car, you don't need anti-hijacking windows anymore. You don't have to be frightened to stop at a traffic light. You can drive with your windows open. When going into your house you don't have to be scared that someone is waiting for you. You can sleep!

It is no surprise to me that I see so many South-Africans leaving the country. The South-African government seems to be turning a blind I to this as well as if they don't want the skills of the people that are keeping the economy alive. What is going to happen when all the skilled people have left the country? It is not as if the schooling system in South-Africa is producing enough skilled workers to replace them.

People in South Africa now live in security estates. Looking back at these so called security estates is frightening. It is no more than prisons where people are forced to live in confined spaces. You still have to leave your estate in to the jungle of violence and criminality.

The solution to a great deal of the problems in South-Africa can be solved by first solving the problem of crime!

It makes me mad to see that people are forced to leave the country that they love.
South-Africa is a great country, just a pity that there is so much crime.

Learn more about this author, Hein Marais.
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