Truth must be told, since these extortion-related incidents surfaced in our communities, there have been prevailing fears. No one feels safe. All of us, including journalists, are scared because these people are working undercover.
When I say these extortionists are not known, I mean no one came out and reported them to the police. But I believe they are known by some people in our communities.
I’ve heard stories from some of my colleagues saying that they’ve received private calls from unknown people threatening them after they wrote stories relating to them. That is why I’m saying no one is safe at all.
It is worse for some of us (reporters) who are residing in the townships. We have to count our words when we report on such stories, which ultimately impacts how we report news.
Sometimes the editor tells you to do this and that, but deep down, as a reporter, you say, no I can’t.
These extortionists have instilled fear in us, which has an impact on our careers.
Sometimes we don’t ask relevant questions or our sources don’t give us the gist of the matter because they are also scared.
All of that affects our articles because we are unable to extract information from the people.
In some instances, sources prefer to speak on condition of anonymity for fear of harassment.
The question is, what kind of society are we living in if we can’t express ourselves openly?
Everyone is traumatised because of the regular killings in society.
There is little that the law enforcement agencies are doing to protect the community.
Our government needs to amend some of the laws to deal with criminals.
In most cases, the perpetrators have more rights than the victims.
Our prisons are full of so-called dangerous criminals. Maybe we need harsher sentences against hard criminals.
But, I doubt if that will ever happen because some government leaders are not innocent. Some have criminal records.
Certain government leaders are rotten to the core. And that is why we will never see changes in our constitution. Sometimes, I tend to believe that our law protects the rich people more than the poor.
It is something that we will live with until we go to the grave. It’s sad for the journalists who lose their identity and write diluted stories because of fear for their lives.
We have a choice as a community, it’s either we fight or surrender.
