Solidarity on a crime campaign

Published: 5/16/2010 21:03:38

AVASHNEE MOODLEY

JOHANNESBURG - The Solidarity movement will launch its largest crime protest campaign this week and is planning to hand over hundreds of memorandums to police stations across South Africa.
The campaign is aimed at getting every town and city in South Africa to participate in taking action against crime. By late yesterday, protesters in nearly 350 towns and cities were finalising arrangements.
The main launch will take place at the Harlequins Rugby Club, Pretoria, from 10am to 2pm on Wednesday. People are encouraged to wear red to support the protest against crime and bloodshed.
They will be divided into various groups to hand over memorandums to several police stations in the city.
The day will be marked by hundreds of memorandums being handed over locally and overseas to foreign embassies by South Africans living abroad.
Crime victims will also hand over these memorandums. Natasha Keyser will hand over the memorandum in Bloemfontein.
Keyser and her friend were overpowered by four men who wanted to hijack their car. Keyser’s friend was forced into the boot of the car after which she was raped.
There will also be a protest concert where well-known South African artists such as Mean Mr Mustard and Robbie Klay will perform. They are expected to be involved in the campaign and to lend their support for the initiative.
Solidarity’s deputy general secretary Dirk Hermann said it did not want South Africans to allow crime to become a normal part of society.
“To demonstrate that it is abnormal, we need to protest. However, we won’t just protest, we also want to use the action to call on people to get involved in community safety initiatives with the South African Police Service,” he said.
He said crime affected all South Africans whether people lived in the city or in rural areas.
He said it was important for people from all corners of the country to gather on this day to take a stand against crime.
“We cannot allow it to destroy our country. We cannot let crime win”, he said.
Although Wednesday will be the official launch, the first action in the anti-crime campaign took place at Hartbeespoort on Saturday where hundreds of people gathered to show their support for the crime protest concert.
Solidarity has called on as many people as possible to join the protest action. Hermann said it expected this action to set a South African record for the most memorandums handed over. He said it would focus on establishing community safety structures.




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The Citizen

Comments by Sonny

Wear red shirts and join the Crime March on Wednesday 19 May 2010.

The ANC will not win this round.