Will it or wont it? Can it or can’t it? Support it or hate it?
Jacob Zuma is a smart man, or at the very least he has very smart people around him who make him look smart…enough.
Why do I say that Zuma is a smart man? It’s fairly simple, he has started his presidential race long before any other potential candidate. If you haven’t noticed you best begin to take note. Zuma has not marginalised many kinds of people in SA, in fact, he has done a sterling job of attracting very unlikely voters over to his camp.
The death penalty is the perfect example of this. White South Africans seem to be ignorantly afraid for the country if Zuma gets in to power. I am not, but many are. So what does Zuma do? He calls for the death penalty to come back. Why? Because this is what many white South Africans (and black) are looking for. Immediate revenge, swift action and definitive justice in SA.
I am kind of here to suggest that unfortunately Zuma’s statement for the death penalty is merely a presidential card that has been played to swing over a marginalised minority.
I am very proud of the SA constitution and I understand a fair bit of it. Enough so that I understand that the death penalty will never be brought back to SA unless the ANC win a 65% majority and have the stupidity to change the constitution.
The very basis of our magnificent and groundbreaking constitution is that of the freedom. To further the concept of freedom one needs to look at the types that are provided for in the constitution. The one stands out for me is this: Every South African has the right to live.
That alone condemns the death penalty in one movement. There are others such as the right to dignity (which would be overridden if the death penalty is put in place). Thus I firmly believe that 1. Zuma is a smart man, 2. The death penalty wont be back anytime soon and 3. I am smarter than Jacob Zuma so he needs to catch a game!
Similar Posts:
- Let’s discuss: Your perfect presedential candidate
- 2008 – the year for voter education
- Separate the legends from the clowns
- Mbeki resigns. Is this the end? I think not.
- Historically influential people in SA
Popularity: 5% [?]
January 24th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
This is exactly my objection (one of a few!) to the death penalty. Jacob Zuma says “bring back the death penalty” and immediately people nod sagely and say “yes, he’ll be tough on crime”.
Hah.
Let’s, for argument’s sake, say that 1000 murders are committed over a certain period in South Africa. We all know what the state of our police service’s investigative skills is -let’s say that these 1000 murders lead to 800 arrests (I’m being generous here). Of the 800 arrests, lets say 600 actually get charged. Of those, some cases will be dropped due to insufficient evidence – so let’s say 300 actually go to trial. Of those, maybe 100 will be convicted of murder – the rest will be found not guilty or found guilty of lesser offences. And of that 100, only the worst and most aggravated murders will get the death penalty – say 20. And then they have the right to appeal and we can assume that at least SOME of those penalties will be reduced on appeal. That’s a pretty small percentage of murderers stopped in their tracks by the death penalty. [these figures are a fictional illustration - please don't take them as gospel!!]
So if you are a person planning to commit a murder, you will look at the odds of getting the death penalty and think – hey, those are pretty good odds!! And besides, most murderers don’t think they will get caught anyway, so the whole argument of the death penalty as a deterrent is a load of crap. (I have an entire article that I wrote on this if anybody wants to read this argument more fully.)
What the death penalty provides is a way for politicians to be SEEN to be “tough on crime” without actually doing anything to address the root causes of the crime – poverty, unemployment, lack of education, the rich-poor divide, a culture of violence etc etc. Because, you see, solving those things would take time and money, which are the two things no politician is interested in spending.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Sorry that I am bringing this up again. It’s an old thread. I am anti death penalty. Yes I agree that it is a way for politicians to be seen, but there are other reasons.
What if (and I hope and pray it never happens), that you or I voted for the DP to be re-instated and, we, our kids, one of our family end up on Death Row, would those who wished it back still feel that the DP is a wonderful thing? No.
How many people that America executed since they re-instated the DP have actually been innocent. One cant say “oops”. You cant bring that person back to life.
Life without Parole (ever). That is the best answer. Treated like a Death Row prisoner. 23 hours a day in cell by yourself, no contact visits, no TV, just you and your thoughts. That should be punishment for murder. It’s cheaper that Death Row. Death Row prisoners are entitled to about 10 appeals. These cost money. It costs America about 2.5 million dollars for each death row prisoner.
One innocent person executed is one too much. Justice is not flawless.
May 12th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
People should not always have the right to choose what they want and not want… even though we are a democratic country, decisions sometimes have to be made by government (even if they quite often make stupid ones!). As a gay man I am ver glad when it comes to our constitution… if we had a referendum on the death penalty, 85% would vote for it, now what if we had a referendum on tolerance of sexuality and equal rights…somehow I think ignorant and uninformed citizens would have me thrown in jail…pronto! You get my drift?
One third of all executions in America happend in Texas and they still have one of the highest murder rates in America…I rest my case.
May 13th, 2008 at 11:46 am
I just woke up this morning to find that my car was stolen from outside my house last night. For the second time. I love our constitution and most of our laws just the way they are, but I found myself googling ‘death penalty’ because I hate the people who make our otherwise extremely cool country into a scary watch-your-back kind of place. Never mind the death penalty, just up the salaries of our police force and increase their numbers!
May 13th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Robert – I think you are spot on 100% correct, we need to pay the right people the right money to do the job properly!
May 13th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
the point of re-introducing the death penalty is to create a detterent . there is a complete and utter disregard for life in South Africa and if criminals ( or prospective ones at that) knew that they could lose their lives, they’d think twice. criminal activity is theoretical. people only commit crime if what is to be gained significantly outweighs the consequences of what is being committed. let us not forget that shooting someone in the head for R10 and a wristwatch is completely unacceptable.
September 29th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I have to write a paper on the death penalty but seem to have a mixture of emotions. Thinking about the death penalty sparks both hope and laughter in me. Firstly, hope because maybe it can work, maybe the law can change, the police can work better and maybe, just maybe people who murder can be hung or injected.However, then, theres laughter because, this will never happen. We all can hope it can, but how can it when a police service arrives at a murder scene without a camera,or without the equipment to take finger prints. The death penalty can only work when the police of this country are firstly sorted out and secondly when the president (whoever that is now) decides to implement it properly. BUT, theres always a but, can children be put under the death penalty?? Im really confused on how to argue a case for this assignment. I am in favour, but…help!!!
September 30th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I am in the middle of researching for a research topic oral and the topic I have chosen is that of the death penalty being reinstated in South Africa. I am in two minds about this topic as firstly I am a Christian and I believe that God told us not to murder and killing someone because they kiled someone doesn’t make it ok, like my mother always said, two wrongs don’t make a right. On the other hand this country needs to rediscover what the word “consequinces” means. Like Jeanne said, very few criminals are actually punished for their actions. I (as a young person living in SA) am very conserned about my country and I really hope that something is done about our shocking crime rate in the near future!
March 22nd, 2009 at 3:16 pm
You’re all missing one very very big point
March 22nd, 2009 at 3:20 pm
It’s pointless to re-instate the death penalty if you’re going to pay cops to do better investigating and thus have them actually “catch” more criminals. The problem is you can’t do the one and still have the other. Someone mentioned that we should pay cops more money (higher salaries) and get more cops out on the streets. This isn’t the answer to the problem. Like Jeanne mentioned, without tackling the root of the problem we arn’t actually going to be getting anything right. What are they going to do if crime doesn’t drop by a large margin? Add more cops to the street? It’s never going to work. I call for a re-instating of the death penalty, it might be brutal, but maybe we can observe how it works at first as I’m sure it will shock the hell out of many crimials trying to make their way through crime in SA. You’ve got to be cruel to be kind.
August 13th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
yes, i agree to this all of it but think that they should do it to get the scum out of the streets so the crime rate will go down by at least 50% for they would be worried to steal for they would know that there is a big consiquence for this or these crime’s !!! MURDER & fatal BEATINGS ,RAPE & ASSULT SHOULD BE DEALT WITH EFFECTIVELY “say with the death penalty
Will it or wont it? Can it or can’t it? Support it or hate it?
August 25th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
this is utter rubbish…
did you read the rest of the Constitution, which states,
‘all the discrimination in (3) is unfair unless it has been established that the discrimination is fair”
just look at section 9 of the bill of rights…
the right to live….yes, that has nothing to do with the punishment fitting the crime…
our country has 25000 murders per year, 55000 rapes, 200 000 violent assaults…..
and what is happening? nothing…
continue to eat boerewors and watch the blue bulls and 7de laan, but in the real world of S.Africa, we have untrained police, some who have been convicted of crimes from robbery to rape keeping their jobs…
dont wait till its your parents murdered or your sister raped….
if you rape and murder, you get a just punishment…
some MEN still stand for JUSTICE , not political correctness and ass-kissing
August 25th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Steve – Wow you couldn’t put more sweeping and ignorant generalisations in to one comment if you tried. Firstly, what the hell are you talking about boerewors and 7de laan for? I’m lost there.
Secondly, how bout you do some research. If you did, you’d find that the death penalty almost never reduces the number of violent crimes committed. The punishment is merely a way for the victims and those affected to feel better. It is not a viable solution.
December 18th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
Something that everyone else has forgotten.
The increase of murders and wanton killing has increased phenomenally since the death sentence was abolished.
In the 1940′s a young woman “Bubbles Schroeder” was murdered.
It created headline news for more than a year.
Today thousands are murdered each year without a mention of it in the newspapers.
BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY, I SAY…..
When the continuation of the death penalty was discussed for the New South Africa, one of the members shouted: “Do we want a blood bath in South Africa?” Well now we have a blood bath. Unfortunately it is not the blood of Murderers but the blood of innocents.
BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY, I SAY….. AND NOW! TODAY!
August 21st, 2011 at 2:39 pm
hey there and thank you for your info – I have definitely picked up anything new from right here. I did however expertise a few technical points using this website, as I experienced to reload the site lots of times previous to I could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your web hosting is OK? Not that I am complaining, but slow loading instances times will often affect your placement in google and can damage your high-quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords. Anyway I am adding this RSS to my email and could look out for a lot more of your respective interesting content. Ensure that you update this again very soon..
August 22nd, 2011 at 10:55 am
death penalty should be reinstated in south africa many people murdered other people and protect them self by saiy they have the right to life. wha about those innocent people that murderd by criminal just for fun come on people let be serious about this
September 2nd, 2011 at 10:48 am
I am a new convert in favour of the death penalty and would like to provide as much support as I posibly can..
does anyone know who in govt supports the idea , what organisations I can join and support
absolutely appaled by the criminals who have no regard to human life so if this is the case these criminals would not care if thier own is taken away.
Phill