If we cannot protect our children, this democracy is doomed to fail, writes Zukile Majova in his Real Politics column.
South Africans have seen so much crime that it rarely shocks us anymore. We lose at least 25,000 people to violent criminals every year. It has become a way of life. Speaking out is seen as unpatriotic. If you are Black and complain about crime, you are branded a sellout who is trying to please white people.
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently told television cameras that Afrikaners who feel unsafe in their homes are cowards. He was reacting to reports that over 70,000 Afrikaners were ready to relocate to the United States after former president Donald Trump invited them to apply for refugee status.
Within 18 hours of Trump’s executive order, the South African Chamber of Commerce in the US said it had received more than 10,000 applications.
Trump may be blunt, but he has forced the world to take a hard look at crime in South Africa.
This week, I am focusing on the children.
It is Child Protection Week (29 May to 5 June), and I have been asking myself how the Ramaphosa government can honestly say child safety is a priority. A recent South African Police Service report shows that 225 children were raped in our schools in the first nine months of 2024.
Some of those responsible are still working in our schools. Even registered sex offenders are still on the government payroll.
Children are raped, kidnapped and attacked every day in South Africa. Parents live in fear. School is no longer a safe space. The crime rate has made many of us numb. But this cannot be our normal.
There are now digital tools that let parents track their children and send panic alerts to police or private security when there’s trouble.
The Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit of the police should be equipped with technology to respond immediately to alerts from children nearby.
But none of this can work if people cannot afford the cost of mobile data.
Even home surveillance cameras and internet-linked security are out of reach for most families — not because the tech is unavailable, but because our data is expensive and unreliable.
Universal internet access should now be seen as a weapon against violent crime. But instead of building this, the government is too busy arguing over whether international tech companies should hand over 30% of their shares to local Black Economic Empowerment partners.
Why not ask those companies to roll out internet infrastructure in schools and rural areas?
Ramaphosa has said that satellite companies from China, Russia, Europe and the US — including Starlink — are interested in doing business in South Africa.
Businessman Johann Rupert told Trump that satellite internet could help fight crime and poaching. This same technology could also save children’s lives.
We need a national child protection project. A digital one. And we need it now.
As I write, the National Prosecuting Authority has sent me a press release. The Pretoria High Court has sentenced Nkululeko Mtshali to life in prison for raping and killing an eight-year-old girl from Carletonville on 5 January 2023. It took more than two years for justice.
Judge Petrus Johannes Johnson said: “He committed heinous crimes against a young child who had her whole life ahead of her, ended by a ruthless criminal.”
Minutes before that, another alert arrived. The Pretoria North Magistrates’ Court has sentenced 79-year-old Johannes Jacobus Christiaan Kotze to life in prison for raping a six-year-old girl.
The child called him “Oupa” even though he was not her real grandfather. He lived in the same commune as her mother. Magistrate Piet Nel said: “Rape is a scourge in our society, and the absence of remorse aggravates this crime.”
She added: “This sentence sends a clear message: the NPA prioritises gender-based violence cases, especially those targeting vulnerable children, and will pursue justice relentlessly.”
Those are the lucky cases — where justice was done.
But not every family sees justice.
Cwecwe, an eight-year-old girl from Matatiele, was allegedly raped at her school in 2024. Protests swept across the country calling for #JusticeForCwecwe. But the NPA dropped the case, saying there was not enough evidence.
That little girl no longer speaks to anyone — not even her parents. Her world has been destroyed. And the suspects walk free.
In Saldanha Bay, a court found that little Joshlin Smith’s mother and two others had sold her for muthi. They are now serving life sentences. But her body has never been found. Her family has no peace.
We cannot allow these crimes to continue. We cannot wait for cameras or data prices to change the world. We must demand it.
President Ramaphosa must stop pretending that things are under control. The war on child abuse and murder must be led from the very top.
Pictured above: Early Childhood Development (ECD) Forum, hosted a Child Protection Fun Walk and Fun Day in Meadowlands, Soweto.
Image source: Supplied
