Mnr die Voorsitter, binne 'n week het daar drie geweldsmisdade naby my gebeur. Op Sondag, 4 Maart, terwyl my 23-jarige seun Emile buite Stellenbosch fietsry, beroof twee welgeklede jong mans hom en steek hom met 'n mes. Op Donderdag, 8 Maart, slaan die tuinwerker van die 70-jarige mev Pop Marais van Krugersdorp in my kiesafdeling, Mogale City, haar met 'n byl oor die kop en laat haar vir dood agter. Op Vrydag, 9 Maart, oorval twee mans van 'n buurland die 53-jarige mev Cheryl Miekle van Lanseria, ook in my kiesafdeling, en skiet haar dood.
Die tragedie is dat duisende burgers daagliks sulke traumatiese ervarings beleef. Omdat mense besef hulle kan nie langer op die staat vir beskerming staatmaak nie, mobiliseer die burgerlike samelewing nou teen misdaad, maar as die regering nie sy kant ook bring nie, kan die land in anargie verval. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans member's statement follows.)
[Ms A M DREYER (DA): Mr Chair, within a week three violent crimes took place close to me. On Sunday, 4 March, while my 23-year-old son Emile was cycling outside Stellenbosch, he was robbed and stabbed with a knife by two well-dressed young men. On Thursday, 8 March, the garden worker of the 70- year-old Mrs Pop Marais from Krugersdorp in my constituency, Mogale City, hit her over the head with an axe and left her for dead. On Friday, 9 March, two men from a neighbouring country attacked 53-year-old Mrs Cheryl Miekle of Lanseria, also in my constituency, and shot and killed her.
The tragedy is that thousands of citizens experience traumatic incidents such as these on a daily basis. Because people realise that they can no longer rely on the state for protection, civil society is now mobilising against crime, but if the government does not also do its part, the country could be reduced to anarchy. [Applause.]