Social ills contribute to crime

Unemployment, poverty and a lack of education are some of the issues which were identified as contributing factors to the high crime rate in the country. This transpired at the million man march which was held at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Tuesday. The march was organized by comedian and actor Desmond Dube and its aim was to highlight the scourge of crime in the country and to let government know that more needs to be done to eradicate crime.


The target was for one million people to attend, but being a Tuesday less than 4 000 people were able to participate. Despite the low turnout, the people who did manage to attend showed their commitment to fight crime and to work together with government in doing this. There were lots of people from different civil organizations, different schools and church groups. Some political parties used this opportunity to campaign for next year’s presidential elections.


People were carrying placards with different messages to government and there was also a lot of singing, people singing struggle songs and church songs. Minister of Correctional Services Ngconde Balfour received the memorandum on behalf of government but he was booed off the stage halfway through his speech, which was a way of people showing their frustration towards government and that they’ve had enough.
All in all it was good seeing South Africans from all walks of life coming together and uniting against the crime.

Listen to the voicer Hlengiwe filed for Gagasi 99.5 FM: