Four young lives callously taken in little more than just 24 hours in Gqeberha last week. Four. Let that sink in. Four boys aged between 15 and 17, either shot or stabbed to death, the lives of their families changed forever.
The bodies of the two 15-year-olds were found within two hours of each other in Bethelsdorp on Monday. Both boys had been shot. The shootings are thought to be gang-related.
In this case, two people have been arrested — a 17-year-old and a 27-year-old.
On Sunday, in Soweto-on-Sea, two soccer-loving St Thomas Senior Secondary School pupils were brutally stabbed to death on the way to the shop to buy charcoal.
Police say the boys were allegedly involved in a scuffle on the way that turned violent.
The reasons don’t matter, what matters is that these youngsters were murdered before they had a chance to really live. Their families’ hopes and dreams dying with them.
But where is the uproar, the public outcry, the united appeal from the people of this city for something to be done about the almost daily murders here?
The sister of one of the boys says they cannot just become another statistic. Those words should hit home.
Day after day, we write about kidnappings, murders and other violent crimes.
We appeal for measures to address the ongoing violence.
But nothing changes.
More lives are lost, more stories are written, big news today, just another statistic tomorrow.
This cannot go on. People are living in fear in the townships and northern areas, in particular.
They never know if they or their children walk out the door whether they will see them again.
We, as residents of this city, need to do more.
We need to petition the police minister to do something concrete about the violence.
We need to let our voices be heard.
We cannot just sit in our homes and say “what a tragedy” every time we read one of these stories, and then move on to the next one.
These are not statistics. They are people with families who have been robbed of their loved ones.
We need to stand together as one and demand action to curb the relentless violence.
We cannot stay silent as our fellow residents are trapped in an endless cycle of violence and fear.
We are one, let’s use our voices and fight together for a safer city.
HeraldLIVE
Let’s fight together for a safer city
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Image: Werner Hills
Four young lives callously taken in little more than just 24 hours in Gqeberha last week. Four. Let that sink in. Four boys aged between 15 and 17, either shot or stabbed to death, the lives of their families changed forever.
The bodies of the two 15-year-olds were found within two hours of each other in Bethelsdorp on Monday. Both boys had been shot. The shootings are thought to be gang-related.
In this case, two people have been arrested — a 17-year-old and a 27-year-old.
On Sunday, in Soweto-on-Sea, two soccer-loving St Thomas Senior Secondary School pupils were brutally stabbed to death on the way to the shop to buy charcoal.
Police say the boys were allegedly involved in a scuffle on the way that turned violent.
The reasons don’t matter, what matters is that these youngsters were murdered before they had a chance to really live. Their families’ hopes and dreams dying with them.
But where is the uproar, the public outcry, the united appeal from the people of this city for something to be done about the almost daily murders here?
The sister of one of the boys says they cannot just become another statistic. Those words should hit home.
Day after day, we write about kidnappings, murders and other violent crimes.
We appeal for measures to address the ongoing violence.
But nothing changes.
More lives are lost, more stories are written, big news today, just another statistic tomorrow.
This cannot go on. People are living in fear in the townships and northern areas, in particular.
They never know if they or their children walk out the door whether they will see them again.
We, as residents of this city, need to do more.
We need to petition the police minister to do something concrete about the violence.
We need to let our voices be heard.
We cannot just sit in our homes and say “what a tragedy” every time we read one of these stories, and then move on to the next one.
These are not statistics. They are people with families who have been robbed of their loved ones.
We need to stand together as one and demand action to curb the relentless violence.
We cannot stay silent as our fellow residents are trapped in an endless cycle of violence and fear.
We are one, let’s use our voices and fight together for a safer city.
HeraldLIVE
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