Today's Cape Times...

Catching up with today's Cape Times reminded me of our old title for my favourite local newspaper back in the days when we called it The Cape Crimes. (Back then Suzy Q was better known for hanging out on the crime trail with a dear and sadly departed friend who was a crime hound of note. Oh gentle readers, the sordid places I did visit and the sordid sights I did see!) Looks like not much has changed unfortunately, only the nature of the crimes.


Now I know some of my loyal readers expressed some surprize, if not shock at the crime story posting a few days ago and I promised to keep things lighter, but I did mention that my blog would also voice my concerns for the state and future of this fair land of mine, so I must just mention a few issues which caught my eye today.

1) Well it goes without saying that the gang rape of a 17 year old Sowetan schoolgirl who was then kept hostage and the video of the horrendous event  which has gone viral takes precedence and makes me wonder if we haven't descended into the depths of Sodom and Gomorrah. Ditto the DJ from Khayelitsha who groomed two boys under the under age of ten before raping them. Words fail me. Yep.

2) Juxtapositioned with these disturbing stories is a small report stating that the trauma rooms attempting to create a safe, relatively comfortable space for  counselling the many victims of crime are to be closed down. WHY when they have already been established, and have been filled with donations of toys and clothes as many of these victims are women and children, and are often manned by volunteers?

3) Never mind the soaring crime rate, my local Kirstenhof police station has been served with eviction orders for non-payment of rent. Perhaps a massive tender has been signed out there for huge, shiny new premises. Chapman's Peak perhaps? I do hope that wherever they have to move, we will at least be able to retain the staff as I would hate for them to lose their jobs. Strangely enough, it is also kind of reassuring to know we have some form of police presence in the area, and any dealings I have had with them have been dealt with efficiently and courteously.

4) Turning to John Scott's column hoping for something a little lighter, I certainly enjoyed his take on President Zuma's impending nuptials and the statistics for the astonishing amount of children he has sired and the time management his post nuptials will require.  I was, however, less amused to read how much has been spent on his 70th birthday bash and on refurbishing the royal kraal. And who's going to pay for the wedding?? Three great ANC parties in one year and we're not even halfway through. Now that's what I call a GREAT party.

Seriously, a president for the people? Whilst he and his wives, many offspring and cronies whoop it up in high style, our basic services are falling down around our feet. Perhaps the cunning plan is to put our local policemen out on the streets, then we surely would have more bobbies on the beat. Nice new initiative. Maybe other noteworthy world leaders will pick up on the idea and it can go global.

Amazed, but definitely not amused,


Suzy Q