Crime Expose or is that Crime Expo SA??

I stumbled upon an article on one of the online news websites last week....they were complaining about a website that was exposing our crime problem in SA. They said that it was bad for tourism and that it would cause travelers to rather go to other countries to spend their hard earned dollars/euros or pounds.

The website in question is

CRIME EXPO SA

Created and maintained by Neil Watson

I honestly haven't read every news article, but the particular article actually encouraged hackers to attempt a hack in order to shutdown the site. Basically this gives the idea that people want the horrors of crime hidden, swept under the carpet, so no one from overseas will know about it! It is evident that in SA we have a crime problem. I travel all over the world and the common theme question that people hit me with is “do you have to carry a gun?” obviously they also ask if we have lions in our gardens....but the answer is no to both! In most cases carrying a gun will result in you being killed by your own weapon, with the trigger being pulled a by a nervous 16 year old who was trying to steal your cell phone from the living room table......imagine dying for a cell phone, or for even a few South African Rands....

In some countries the news headlines are about school children beating up other kids and the fight being caught on a camera phone!! Oh no what an outcry, but this is sometimes the most violent thing that happens. In SA murders sometimes don't even make the front page, unless you’re a high profile person. The rest is forgotten, or has become so common that it is taken for granted. Oh, so and so was hijacked last week...blah blah. It is sometimes not even worth the hassle to report a stolen bicycle or garden tools etc, where the cops take hours to respond due to other more violent crimes taking priority, well that is the only reason why I could think they can't respond to more minor calls?

What Neil Watson has done is to highlight a major problem to the world and even to some of our overpaid, under worked government officials who sometimes are totally oblivious to the fact that there is a serious problem.

I support Neil in this effort!

I understand that if the international community to take this seriously it will wake the government up to the fact that there is a problem. The initial repercussion of such a website will be that there is a lack of tourists, therefore less income for our beautiful land! There may even be an upward spiral of unemployment due to this especially at the coastal regions.

There could be two scenarios which will spring from this, maybe the crime will increase due to this lack of employment OR (and I am hoping for this)

the government will think about what could be causing this?? **BLING** (on goes the light bulb) only then would the government realize that foreigners are not prepared to travel to SA due to the high level of violent crimes.

It is high time that the government started to setup some serious forms of justice that would stop the killings and the murder. One quick on would be to have the death penalty put back into existence. It would clean up some of our prisons; cost the tax payers less to support these murdering bastards.

The government needs to crack down on drugs too, maybe also have the death penalty applicable here.....in ASIA this works, and the availability and use of drugs is far lessened when you know that you are going to die if caught selling or using. In SA the guys go to jail, where they get food, shelter and even a chance to form a great gang behind bars!! Meanwhile the drugs market still flourishes. We all know that most crimes are driven by the lack of money for drugs, especially with the outbreak of TIK, or Meth! Druggies need to feed their habit and what better way to do it than to steal someone else’s stuff, and if they die while you are doing it, then so what? At least you get your hit and you can feel all warm and fuzzy again!

Maybe some of the government officials should go around with a our police officers, wear a small chest and back covering bulletproof vest and go and try arrest some of the criminals out there, getting shot at, being ambushed, all for the shitty salary they have to receive. Come on government, it isn't all about fast BMW's and huge houses....it is about the people too! Yes, the ones that voted for you, yes the ones that pay taxes. Do something to show you are a government! Make us want to vote for you. I have moved away from Neil’s website and its aims, but it is time for me to express how I felt too.

I also believe that education is a big part of the reason why there is crime. Poverty is a problem. Simply too many kids to support, this is driven by several factors, people are having too much unprotected sex, either there are kids born to girls that are too young to care for them, this can result in theft for survival, or even prostitution to support the kids, followed by a possible drug habit, which will in turn lead to crime by addicts, sellers, etc etc. There are loads of scenarios. The point that needs to be made here to teach the people, get it across that unprotected sex is a no no. Too many kids are a no no if you can't even afford to feed yourself.

So yeah, government I guess you need to start teaching your people how to live, what is wrong, what is right, and maybe put some serious laws in place that "guide" people in the right direction.

And no the attitude should not be to get up and run away to another country.....wake up and smell the coffee you have a problem and it is going to get worse if you do not stop it now!

Good luck with your endeavor Neil.