LETTER: Anarchists treated with kid gloves

As I write this on Tuesday morning, China Mall, a huge retail centre in Camps Drift, Pietermaritzburg, is being systematically ransacked. Not by hungry, desperate people, but by people using bakkies, cars, taxis and lorries. There is not a policeman or a soldier in sight.

I was filled with despair and disgust listening to President Cyril Ramaphosa's address on Monday evening. Earlier I had watched brave policemen armed with popguns being stoned and eventually chased away by a rampaging mob. It was tragic to see the police having to fight with their arms tied behind their backs.

The looters and arsonists had nothing to fear save for a bruise or two from a rubber bullet. The police had everything to lose as they faced a barrage of bricks and stones. They didn’t have a hope in hell of controlling the mob.

Ramaphosa, the ANC and government have failed us miserably. The human rights enjoyed by the criminal looters far exceed those enjoyed by property and business owners. The solution is simple. Arm the police properly.

Anarchy and insurrection cannot be stopped by pleading for calm, begging for understanding and avoiding reality. The lives of rioters have been placed above the billions of rand of damage and destruction. The looters know they can get away with murder; they know they can do it again, and they will do it again.

Failure to protect the lives and property of citizens has contributed to SA’s destruction as an investment destination and filled the people with fear and despair. Anarchists are treated with kid gloves while law abiding citizens, business and property owners can go and stew in their own juice. South Africans, you are on your own.

Peter Miller 
Pietermaritzburg

JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an e-mail with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by e-mail to letters@businesslive.co.za. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.