It’s not called the silly season for nothing. This time each year it has almost become the norm to see an increase in criminal activities as the Festive Season draws closer. Our lovely Weskushas been hit hard these past couple of days, with no less than three home invasions, several stabbing incidents and another senseless murder of a woman being reported on – the latter only days before the launch of the 16 Days of Activism Campaign for No Violence against Women and Children.
That said, there were victories, with one convicted murderer sentenced and one murder suspect brought before the courts. Both cases relate to the murders of prominent figures of farming communities in the region. What is concerning is that, in both cases, the accused has had prior run-ins with the law. Yet they were roaming the streets. In the case of Duran Constable, who was convicted and sentenced for the murder of Ingrid Koch this week, he was out on bail for housebreaking and attempted rape when he forced his way into the farmhouse of Ingrid and Frans Koch and murdered Ingrid (p 2). In the midst of the tragedy, he was fortunately apprehended by loyal workers, who detained him until police arrived. It begs the following questions: should we expect to see more and more citizen arrests and should we consider the privatisation of police duties? What effect would these have on a clearly broken, ineffectual and inadequate justice system?
