A psychotic world

Was home on paternity leave (modern day convenience) and...

Spent time with the new babe, Tinyiko and her sis, Talia - who, because of the new crowd around her, she flat out ignored me being her number one person in the whole world. The leave was spent in the village, Pankop, amidst the noise of birds and chickens running around the whole place and me lazying under a Marula tree drinking 2x 2l of fresh water a day. For some reason, I felt life was good that way: no worries of the fast city life and the pressures that come with it, the material competition that goes on everyday, the noise of the cars and mad traffic and taxis hooting all day long from am to pm, the rigid schedule that's forced by citylife and more of that crap about the city.

Well, the main reason I felt so good in the village, a place where I was born and lived for 20 years, was because I had just realised something that was just happening naturally: Talia (my first daughter) was playing ... in the streets nogal, with all the other village kids and nobody cared much whether she will be hurt, napped or bothered by psychos that parade the urban streets, in any city. Now that's most cities in the current under-siege South Africa, where crime unto babies, especially girls, is the order of the day.

I don't imagine that when Talia and Tinyiko return back to Pretoria I would just care less if they played in the streets in Pretoria east. I don't think I would even be comfortable with them going about to play unwatched or uncontrolled in a public park here in Pretoria for I fear for their safety. Such is a pity for then their development that should come from their freedom of being kids ands free of unnecessary control (especially when it comes to not interferring with their play-abouts). In short, in the city, they may not enjoy themselves as they do in the village.

It was an interesting observation, which brought back sad memories of a story I covered for the Sunday Times back in 2005 involving two young black girls from Soweto - age ranging 9 - 13 I think. Now the psycho did something beyond human to them - which in South Africa is becoming the norm in the killings of children. He napped them as they were walking to church in the broad day light, probably and allegedly kept them somewhere isolated whilst repeatedly raping them over numerous days. The parents, as I had visited them during the long depressing search for their girls, were reeling with anger to say the least, although very forgiving and hopeful their girls will be found alive - the father relayed to me that he used to walk the streets of Soweto, Pimville, at night hoping to find them as it was quiter but only to be taumented by their voices in his head begging for mercy ("for me to come safe them" - he once relayed to me).

That is painful for a parent, even if they try to look stronger than they may feel. Now the worst was to fall for this father and his wife: the monster-half man, after raping the girls in captivity for several days, killed them by strangling them with ropes from their apostolic-church attire and burried them in a shallow open grave in an open field nearby the neighbourhood. I was gobsmacked another human being could do that - my first hardcore story to report at the Sunday Times - with many mixed emotions.

At the time, the only fury in my heart and mind was that a case of these girls from a modest township background was not fast tracked or given any good detectives (police) to sort out, whereas a kidnap-murder case of a white rich girl (21 year old Leigh-Matthews) was backed by all necessary resources to resolve it soonest, and resolved it was - and the parents could at least put closure and try to move on. But the case of the poor little girls from Soweto was largely ill-managed by police and received the bearest minumum of their attention or resources. And to date, the case remains unsolved and the culprit prowling the streets where my Talia, Tinyiko and many other little innocent girls out there have to live and play.

Now that's my new beef with SA police, the Chief (President) and his commanders (Selebi) for not doing much except for public lip service in sorting out crime. It hit me on Saturdya 17.03.07 (the birth of Tinyiko) that with two daughters, I may have a higher chance of being visited by sorrow in my home than families that bear boy children - as the stats and the reality is that more girls suffer in the hands of paedophiles and maniacs of this society than do boy-children (they do suffer too but the stats or reality are not as steep in comparison). And on that Saturday, I also learnt that when you are a parent, crime stops being a racial or class issue to become more the issue of the future of your children - particularly girl children.