SIKONATHI MANTSHANTSHA: Restore the death penalty
If SA hopes to realise its full social and economic potential, we need to tackle criminality aggressively and mercilessly
The accused, Henri van Breda (23), was so unconcerned that he even dozed and yawned on a few occasions while judge Siraj Desai read the verdict in Van Breda’s triple murder trial this week. When the judge finally reached the end of his lengthy judgment, the accused had even temporarily closed his eyes a few times. The dozens of cameras around him did not seem to focus his senses. Van Breda was found guilty on all five counts: the murders of his own parents and older brother, the attempted murder of his sister and defeating the ends of justice. Heinous crimes anywhere, punishable by the heaviest sentence possible. In parts of the Middle East and Africa, even petty thieves spend sleepless nights and days agonising over their fate once caught. Because it may cost them limbs or even their right to life. But in SA, undergoing a criminal trial is just another of those long, boring things you have to endure. Then you simply do a stint in jail. Van Breda is one of many who simply fall aslee...
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