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Flying bullets galore in South Africa
2006-07-12 09:38:06
By Gerald Kitabu, Johannesburg
Phoom!!! Phoom!!! Comes the sound of a gun as it spits live fire in a suburb of South Africa’s, a country where murder is the order of the day.
It is hard to imagine the horror that lays ahead. It is not easy to comprehend the extreme loss it can cause once it takes place.
The most dangerous thing that comes out of this terror is the irrevocable loss it slaps upon the society. The dead do not come back no matter what.
The vector of the vice today gnawing at the country’s peace is nothing other than South Africa’s armed gangs, a product of illegal firearms.
In the neighbouring countries such as Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania the scenario is very different.
But the Africa’s superpower nation is experiencing the worst crimes west levels of crime.
In South Africa, as in most countries on the continent including Tanzania, legal acquisition of guns is easy. However, what one does with the gun they have acquired is what matters.
But the bandits have their own way of acquiring firearms.
They connive with what is believed to be an international organised crime syndicate inside the country, thereby putting the lives of innocent people at risk.
There is no doubt, therefore, that the high rate of crime in South Africa will necessitate the official security arm of the government to put stringent security measures in order to prevent proliferation of guns that today cause sleepless nights in the country.
Unlike Tanzania where organised crimes are rare, South Africa has a wave of armed robberies in the cities. Unfortunately customers are usually caught up unawares in attacks by the deadly criminals.
In most instances, some of the global clandestine groups are interested in cash while most local gangs target mobile phones, jewellery, handbags and wallets of shoppers in leading cities and sub-towns.
The tolerant culture of South Africans to gun violence has attracted notorious gangs worldwide to come to the country for armed operations which are leaving many innocent people dead everyday throughout the year.
These incidents are on the daily menu in South Africa cities and suburbs so much that some gangs do kill innocent civilians caught up in cross fire between members of the gangs and the law enforcers.
Daylight gangsterism takes in the Africa’s richest nation despite South Africa’s economic and technological advancement, prompting a picture that in spite of its progress, the country lags behind in implementing effective security laws.
An investigation conducted by The Guardian in South Africa over the past one and half months revealed that crime is frequent and prevalent in the country.
At least every day the media would have story headline such as ’Murdered girl found by police’, ’Police in another yet gun battle with robbers’, ’Cops looking for the murdered police killers’, ’Bullets fly again in the city’, ’Gang stalks police” , ’Bloodbath in the city,’,and many others.
Since my arrival in Johannesburg one and a half months ago I have heard quite a number of murder stories and personally I have covered some of them including the shooting to death of a Johannesburg police reservist.
The police man was shot dead and another wounded critically when AK-47 wielded men opened fire on their car in the morning of Thursday June 22 in Berea, one of Jahannesburg’s suburbs.
Bafana Mthombeni (36), who was a Johannesburg police reservist died on the spot and his friend Thomas Lebesesaha who was behind the wheel when they were hit, was rushed to hospital where he is battling for his live in an intensive care unit.
A friend of the dead police officer, Abraham Amposana (35), a businessman told The Guardian in an exclusive interview that the attack was a revenge because the policeman was looking for seven inmates who escaped from Johannesburg prison camp.
Amposana added that the inmates might be responsible for the attack.
However, one week later, The Guardian learnt that the inmates who escaped from the prison had allegedly phoned two other arresting officers demanding money and threatening to kill them if their demands were not met.
The worst bloody warfare was on June 25 in Jeppestown, east of central Johhanesburg, where four police officers and eight suspects died instantly during crossfire.
During the incident more than 20 armed robbers attacked a Pick ’n Pay at Honey Junction Shopping Centre (a supermarket).
Armed robbers wielding AK47s and other types of firearms hit one customer in the head and shot a second one in the leg before fleeing the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash.
One of the armed robbers who, was injured led the police to a house in a suburb where his accomplices had gone to share between themselves their loot from the superstore.
Police reinforcements armed with heavy-calibre weapons battled with gangsters who, fired back at them with the automatic weapons.
At the end of the five-hour standoff, corpses of four police officers and eight members of the gang lay on the ground. Fourteen other suspects were arrested at the scene.
Allegations are rife here that most of the armed robbers in South Africa are foreigners, mostly experienced soldiers who deserted the army in their respective countries.
They allegedly collude with locals in crime operations acting as mercenaries.
This translates into an internationally organized armed-robbery syndicate in South Africa, prompting an urgent need for global joint efforts to combat the vicious network that is just too much for one country to overcome.
According to several surveys conducted by local and International organizations in South Africa, about 54 percent of all South Africans have been victims of gun violence.
One typical example of gun violence The Guardian witnessed in the commercial city of Johannesburg was the bloody death of a woman in a taxi warfare. The lady was going to his work on June 29th this year.
Miriam Mazibuko (52), a bank employee, did not have to die but in the morning rush hour the innocent woman’s curtains closed forever after a gangster fired two bullet wounds in her head in Industrial area.
When The Guardian arrived at the scene in Johannesburg, the innocent mother had already was long dead.
The police and eyewitnesses said a hail of bullets struck the taxi she was riding in to work and two went hit her on the head, killing her instantly and injuring another passenger.
During the incident in which two rival taxi associations were fighting for routes, Sibongile Msimango(45) was hit in the arm and rushed to Helen Johnson Hospital in city of Johannesburg.
South Africa is hosting the 2010 World Cup football competition and preparations are underway in major cities of the country to make the competition a great success.
This will be the first time Africa will host the competitions.
Some people in and outside Africa are, however, casting doubts if the football bonanza will indeed be a success.
They cite the daily reports of crimes in the country especially in the major cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria and others as the cause of their doubts.
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