Hope Rises in South Africa Despite Horrific Spate of Crimes
It’s been a horrific week in South Africa for Bradley Steyn, whose brother-in-law – John Bosman – was callously murdered on his strawberry farm in Nelspruit a few days ago. Yesterday however, Brad managed to smile for the first time… and feel the hope of a nation… A couple of days ago Brad posted a […]
It’s been a horrific week in South Africa for Bradley Steyn, whose brother-in-law – John Bosman – was callously murdered on his strawberry farm in Nelspruit a few days ago. Yesterday however, Brad managed to smile for the first time… and feel the hope of a nation…
A couple of days ago Brad posted a tearful video which went viral – revealing the details of the attack on his sister’s husband, and imploring people abroad to contact their political representatives and help initiate action to make South Africa safer for all, not just those on farms.
This morning, Brad posted a more upbeat message after being at yesterday’s South Africa versus New Zealand rugby match in Pretoria.
After listening to the crowds in the stadium sing Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika together with heart and soul (watch below), Brad wrote: “Our National Anthem was powerful with so much hope, with possibilities.
“We as a Nation need to back ourselves.”
He also thanked all those who have emailed him copies of their correspondence with governments worldwide alerting them to SA’s “National Security problem” which, he says, includes crimes “against all our citizens on farms, communities, Cape Flats, townships…”
A powerful candle light vigil was held outside Loftus on Friday night in memory of John Bosman and the thousands of other “Victims and Survivors of Murder, violence and crime effecting all our communities in South Africa.”
It’s been a tough week in South Africa for the farming community with four farm murders and ten farm attacks, according to AfriForum’s Ian Cameron.
In one post that’s gone viral this weekend, a neighbour reveals how on Friday night Ludwig and Melanie Uys were attacked on their farm outside Wellington, in the Western Cape, during a braai. Their three children (aged 4, 8 and 10) apparently watched as five armed attackers tortured their parents, breaking Ludwig’s knees with a crowbar and stabbing Melanie repeatedly in the hands and chest. Both have been hospitalised.
The stories are horrific, tragic, unimaginable… but there’s a spirit rising in South Africa of hope; a realisation – as Bradley Steyn said – of a nation that wants to stand together. As the survivor of a recent violent carjacking wrote in an essay that’s gone viral: “Don’t hate all because of the actions of a few. The men who attacked me were vile and cruel, but they do not represent the majority.”
Karen Landi survived a brutal attack ten days ago near Walkerville, about 30km south of Johannesburg.
“I refuse to be a victim of this crime. I refuse to change the way I see my country… Those three men do not make up South Africa.”
While her essay details the inhumane manner in which the attackers beat her to a pulp, hitting her face with a rock, pulling her pants off… it is her poignant observation of the gentle care she received afterwards that is most powerful – from the security guard who “gently took my arm and supported me the entire way. He didn’t say much, but his face said a lot. At one point, he turned to me and simply said, ‘I am so sorry'” – to the Trauma Surgeon who “gently” introduced himself. And it’s the way, even now, that gratitude rises in her: “I am so thankful for the outpouring of love, compassion, support and kindness I have felt.”
Karen wrote, in a sentiment that is growing in South Africa: “I refuse to be a victim of this crime. I refuse to change the way I see my country and her people because three men chose to viciously beat, assault and terrorise me. Those three men do not make up South Africa. They are evil and cowardly – and they need to be dealt with as the law sees fit.”
WATCH Hope rises as South Africans sing national anthem at New Zealand vs South Africa rugby match, 6 October 2018
https://www.facebook.com/SAPeople/videos/476714642818195/?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCI4tXNX0tDH7ep64SPTBq-jtxpAwkd-3-xdPjsQnhjK_r9cpUkIJiS_FTPpJ-J91yq1QLrVFjukH00cjP_hktVZUwQPRezq_zrIsEdjdSY-WyVWz02Nzxbcc5UZ9PZ3qG8vQN8xvupXU1PKxMlOFPfbJDgAm7BCWLKfjgQ3UrwbVS8NtpF&__tn__=-R
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