Editorial
Every single day we are confronted with issues that threaten the wellbeing of children – from lack of proper nutrition and shelter to lack of access to proper healthcare. We worry too about neglect, violence and bullying, while child pornography and child trafficking are serious concerns too. Of course, sexual abuse – including rape – remains the biggest challenge facing our communities. There is never a day that passes without a rape, molestation or sexual abuse being reported across the country. About 3 600 cases of rape are reported a day in South Africa, according to one survey. And at…
A complete overhaul of education needed
Frans Cronje, the chief executive of the SA Institute of Race Relations, made an analysis on how inferior the education received by a black child is. He says: “As a black kid born in a rural or township setting, chances are you will go into a former black, Bantu education school. And that pretty much tells us what your future will be like. Most black kids are exposed to useless education and their prospects are stunted”. His analysis is backed by the findings released recently by the University of Stellenbosch that by the time many black pupils reach grade 3,…
Oscar has no leg to stand on
In the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, Oscar Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. On his account, the paralympic gold medalist said he mistook her girlfriend for an intruder. Thanks to his defence team, Pistorius got away with a culpable homicide conviction instead of murder. Judge Thokozile Masipa sentenced Pistorius to five years imprisonment in October 2014 – he would only be eligible for parole after serving a third of his sentence. Oscar never appealed his sentence, but the prosecution did and was successful in the appeal process. Turning Pistorius’s conviction from culpable homicide to murder a…
