Monthly Archive for May, 2010

Bring an end to the bloodshed, South Africa begs with protest

Published on 18 May 2010 in News. 2 Comments

Three hundred and twelve towns and cities across South Africa will tomorrow take part in the largest protest action against crime ever in South Africa. The Solidarity Movement (Solidarity, AfriForum and Solidarity Helping Hand) have announced a national day of protest against crime on 19 May to protest against the horrendous crime situation in the country.

Solidarity has also called on South Africans who cannot attend a local protest action to wear red tomorrow.

The national day of protest against crime will unite South Africans in more than 300 towns and cities across the country when a memorandum is handed over to local police stations. In the memorandum, South Africans will officially protest against the bloody crime situation in South Africa and demand that action be taken by the SAPS and government in this regard.

The single largest gathering of the day will take place in Pretoria. Thousands of residents of Pretoria will get together in the city and make an urgent appeal to the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the government to intervene and bring an end to the terrible bloodshed in the city, province and country.

“Crime in Pretoria and in the rest of the province is completely out of control. Gauteng has the dubious title of crime capital of the country, and that is why we will get together in the capital of South Africa, in the province with the highest level of crime in the country, to protest against crime en masse,” explained Dr. Dirk Hermann, deputy general secretary of Solidarity. Smaller, similar events will also be held in several towns and cities across all provinces.

The gathering in Pretoria will be held at the Harlequins Club, in Totius Street in Groenkloof (see attached map). The event will kick off at 10:00 with performances by well-known artists, including Mean Mr Mustard, Bobby van Jaarsveld, Beeskraal, Freddy Nest, Robbie Klay, Adam Tas, Andries Botha, Sunette Bridges, MarNet and Hennie Smit.

The highlight of the event in Pretoria will be between 12:00 en 14:00 when protest teams depart from the gathering to hand over memorandums to 27 police stations in Pretoria. From 12:30, victims of crime and their families will hold a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate their loved ones. At 13:00, a memorandum will be handed over to the SAPS at the gathering.

The media are invited to attend the event in Pretoria:
Date: Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Time: Highlight between 12:00 and 14:00
Place: Harlequins Club, Totius Street, Groenkloof

Map to Harlequins

Another map to Harlequins

Hundreds of towns gearing up for largest crime protest yet

Published on 17 May 2010 in News. 0 Comments

Three hundred and seven towns are finalising the last arrangements for the largest protest action against crime ever in South Africa. The Solidarity Movement (Solidarity, AfriForum and Helping Hand) has announced a national day of protest against crime on 19 May.

Memorandums will be handed over to the South African Police Service in both small towns and cities, from the Western Cape to the north. In rural areas, several businesses will close their doors and various schools will take part in some of the marches or learners will wear red. It is expected that thousands of South Africans across South Africa will wear red on the day.

“South Africa must never allow crime to become a normal part of society. In order to demonstrate that it is abnormal, we need to protest. However, won’t just protest. We also want to use the action to call on communities to get involved in community safety initiatives in conjunction with the South African Police Service. If we are successful, South Africa will be a safer place after 19 May,” said Dirk Hermann, deputy general secretary of Solidarity.

The first action in the anti-crime campaign took place in Hartbeespoort on Saturday, when hundreds of people gathered at a crime protest concert featuring well-known local artists. The singer Dozi will join victims of crime on 19 May for the handing over of a memorandum to the local police station. In several towns in Northern Natal, schools from both traditionally black and white neighbourhoods will take part in protest actions. An undertaker will even form part of the procession. In Newcastle, the day of protest will conclude with a dance.

More than 60 towns in the Western Cape will take part in the action. Memorandums will be handed over to, among others, the police stations in Bellville, Franschoek, Gordons Bay, Kirstenbosch, Swellendam and Wynberg.

One of the largest protest gatherings will be held at the Harlequins Club in Pretoria. The gathering will also include a protest concert. A huge protest painting by the artist Salomi Prinsloo will also be unveiled. Protest teams will depart from the venue to hand over memorandums to 27 police stations. Victims of crime and their next of kin will also get the opportunity to lay wreaths in memory of the victims.

In Lenasia, a church service will be held and in Diepsloot the protest will focus on the shortage of police stations. In Port Elizabeth, an anti-crime gathering will be held at the Kensley sports grounds. During the event, victims of crime will share their stories and the singer Jacques de Koning, who lives in the area, will perform.

On the Kwazulu-Natal South Coast, memorandums will be handed over in several towns – from Hibberdene to Port Edward. There will also be protests in Durban and Richards Bay.

In several towns victims of crime will hand over the memorandums themselves. In Louis Trichardt, the memorandum will be handed over by Andre and Petro van den Bergh, who were shot during a robbery in their house while they were sleeping, and in Midvaal the memorandum will be handed over by Charl van der Westhuizen, whose uncle and aunt were brutally murdered. At the Utrecht police station, a memorandum will be handed over by Hilda Els and her son. Hilda’s husband was followed, hijacked and brutally murdered.

Natasha Keyser will hand over the memorandum in Bloemfontein. Natasha and her friend were overpowered by four men who wanted to hijack their car. Keyser’s friend was forced into the boot of the car, after which she was raped. In Soweto, Maria Rasello, whose daughter was raped, assaulted and murdered will hand over the memorandum.

In Hoedspruit, Henriëtte van Staden, whose husband was shot through his bedroom window while he was lying on the bed, will hand over the memorandum. The murderers fired two shots at her husband and one shot at her. Following the incident, Henriëtte had a nervous breakdown. During a previous burglary, Van Staden was shot in the leg.

According to Solidarity, this action will probably set a South African record for the most protest memorandums in one day in South Africa. “The reaction of the community to the call for a day of protest against crime shows how angry people are about crime.”
For complete details, visit www.crimeprotest.co.za.

Make private expenses for crime prevention tax deductible, thousands of South Africans demand in anti-crime memorandum

Published on 17 May 2010 in News. 0 Comments

Many thousands of South Africans are demanding, by means of a memorandum in which they are registering their protest against the current crime situation in the country, that private expenses for crime prevention should be tax deductible. The Solidarity Movement (Solidarity, AfriForum and Solidarity Helping Hand) will host a national day of protest against crime this coming Wednesday, 19 May. On the day, a memorandum containing 36 points about this and other relevant demands regarding crime will be handed over to the South African Police Service (SAPS).

On Wednesday, South Africans will hand over memorandums against crime at more than 300 police stations in every corner of the country. The memorandum is addressed to the SAPS, the South African government and South African businesses.

According to Dr. Dirk Hermann, deputy general secretary of Solidarity, a study conducted by the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI), has shown that crime has far-reaching implications for South Africans. “With the signing of this memorandum this week, South African have officially protested against, among other things, the fact that they have to pay taxes, but still have to employ private security companies to ensure their safety because the state does not have the ability to protect its citizens,” he explained. “This practice amounts to double taxation and South Africans cannot keep on coughing up for the government’s inefficiency in this regard.”

According to the study, the maintenance of South African criminal justice system – i.e. the departments of safety and security, justice and constitutional development and correctional services – costs taxpayers millions each year. “What is, however, shocking is the inefficiency of this system measured against the funds that are allocated to it in the budget each year,” Hermann emphasized.

The Solidarity Movement will now further investigate the issue of tax exemption for security-related products and services during a conference to be held later this year. The findings emanating from this will be used in a presentation to the parliamentary portfolio committee.

The memorandum also protests against various other burning crime issues about which South Africans are also fed up, according to Hermann. “With the handing over of this memorandum, South Africans are now making it clear that they are convinced that crime has spun out of control, that it has become South Africa’s single largest problem and that it is threatening the success of the upcoming Soccer World Cup as well as economic progress and job security,” he said.

South Africans are demanding, among other things, in the memorandum that the government should make available more resources focused on training in the SAPS. In addition, it is demanded that the SAPS should lift its moratorium on the appointment of reservists and that businesses should assist the community in conducting crime prevention campaigns.

“However, the memorandum is not only a means of protesting,” Hermann said. “It is also a commitment from the community to get actively involved in solving the crime problem and to make real efforts to improve the safety of South Africans because without the input from South Africans, the battle against crime will fail.”

If you are going to wear a red shirt on Wednesday 19 May in support of the protest, SMS the word RED to 35960. (SMS costs R3).

*Attached is the complete memorandum of the Solidarity Movement to be handed over to police stations across South Africa on Wednesday.
*Also find attached the study by the SRI about the cost of crime in South Africa.

Memorandum to police

Published on 17 May 2010 in News. 0 Comments

Solidarity published the memorandum today that will be handed in at hundreds of police stations across South Africa on Wednesday 19 May 2010.

Download the memorandum here.

Crime protest to kick off in Hartbeespoort on Saturday

Published on 14 May 2010 in News. 0 Comments

Crime will not win! This is the message that the Solidarity Movement (Solidarity, AfriForum and Helping Hand) wants to send out when it launches its national protest action against crime in Hartbeespoort, North West, on Saturday, 15 May.

The national day of protest against crime will take place officially on Wednesday, 19 May but already kicks off on Saturday, 15 May in Hartbeespoort. South Africans in more than 300 towns and cities across South Africa will hand over memorandums to local police stations on Wednesday.

The highlight of Saturday’s event is a protest concert featuring several well-known South African signers, including Blackie Swart, Robbie Klay, Caroline Bosch and Janetta van Staden, that will take place at the Hartbeespoort High School between 09:00 and 13:00. The local Community Policing Forum is also involved in the protest action.

“The day of protest is the biggest protest action of its kind that South Africa has seen to date,” explains Dirk Hermann, Deputy General Secretary of Solidarity. “The problem of crime is not limited to the cities, or the rural areas, or some provinces. It is important that people from all four corners of the country gather together on this day to take a stand against crime, because we cannot allow it to destroy our country. We cannot let crime win!”

The biggest gathering for the protest action on Wednesday will take place in Pretoria at the Harlequins Club. The gathering will coincide with a protest concert featuring several well-known artists. People will divide into groups to hand over memorandums to 27 police stations in the city.

South Africans can support the protest action by joining local actions or by wearing red as a sign of the blood that has been shed as a result of crime. A complete list of participating towns and regions is available at www.crimeprotest.co.za.

“On Wednesday a record number of memorandums will be handed over to police stations,” says Hermann. He stresses that South Africans’ reaction to the campaign has been overwhelming so far. People have come forward in every province to coordinate local actions. “From Phalaborwa in the north to George in the south and from Nelspruit in the east to Vanrhynsdorp in the west people will raise their voices in protest against crime on Wednesday, because South Africans are tired of bloodshed.”

Solidarity calls on businesspeople in to Limpopo stand up against crime

Published on 14 May 2010 in News. 1 Comment

Although crime in general has already reached crisis proportions in South Africa, crimes affecting businesses are currently showing the sharpest increase, the Solidarity Movement (Solidarity, Helping Hand and AfriForum) said today. That is why the Movement has called on businesspeople and businesses to stand up against these types of crime as part of the organisation’s national day of protest against crime that will be held on 19 May.

According to crime statistics released by the South African Police Service, crimes affecting businesses have increased severely. Robberies at business premises increased by more than 41% from 2007/2008 to 2008/2009. In addition, shoplifting increased by 20,6% over the same period while commercial crimes or so-called white-collar crimes increased by 18,7%. The theft of supplies increased by 4,4% during this time.

In Limpopo specifically, the situation is worrying, with more than 6 300 thefts reported at business premises in 2008/2009, compared to the nearly 5 400 incidents in 2007/2008. More than 2 800 cases of commercial crime were also reported in die province in 2008/2009 while more than 520 robberies at businesses were recorded. In all three of these categories an increase was recorded in the number of incidents compared to previous years.

“The national day of protest against crime is a fervent action by South Africans to show their dissatisfaction over the current crime situation. However, it is also an indication by South Africans that they have hope for a better future for the country and that they are now demanding an improvement in the situation,” explained Dirk Hermann, deputy general secretary of Solidarity.

Businesses that want to support the national day of protest can do so by closing their doors between 13:00 and 14:00 on Wednesday, 19 May and encouraging employees to wear red – the official colour for the day of protest. If you are going to wear a red shirt, SMS the word RED to 35960. (SMS costs R3).

Lastly, companies and shops are encouraged to download the official poster of the day of protest against crime from the website www.crimeprotest.co.za, to print it and, as a sign of support for the action, display it at their businesses.