Justice for South African criminals

What really caught my eye was this quote from a witness to the shooting of a group of armed robbers by a police reservist:

"They died slowly.  We all stood and laughed at the f**kers."

Yes this is crass and cruel but it also represents a shift away from fear to action, whether that action be based on anger or a renewed desire to stop the terror that crime inflicts on a daily basis.

Another story on the same front page was the horrendous story of a woman, Deliwe Majaja (aged 26), and her boyfriend, Chester Makhale (aged 30), who physically and emotionally abused a 5 year old girl, Lihle, until she died from malnutrition and the cumulative effect of that physical abuse.  Lihle was beaten when she cried for food, was fed only soft porridge, was chained to the couple’s rented shack and was made to sleep on a cold concrete floor with only a thin blanket.

Majaja and Makhale blamed each other for Lihle’s death.  The court was not impressed with their obvious efforts to avoid responsibility for their shocking conduct.  The pair were sentenced to life imprisonment.  People like this should be locked away somewhere and left there.  No human being could treat another human being like this, let alone a child.  These two gave up their humanity long time ago and don’t deserve to be treated like human beings.

Tags: crime, south africa, life sentence, murder, fear, criminals, armed robberies, child abuse, justice