by Govangirl » Sat Feb 23, 2013 5:46 pm
All I know is that I have a childhood friend who lives in SA living a life of luxury and abject fear. Violence, murder and rape in the course of burglaries occur every day to an extent unimaginable in this country and if she were still living in Scotland she wouldn’t be living with a gun under her pillow (well, probably not!) The levels of violence accompanying crimes in S A are way beyond what we usually see here and I doubt this story would have made more than a few lines on page 7 of the Jo’Burg Daily Mail were it not for the fame of the individual concerned.
AND all I can imagine is that if I’m living in a country where violent murder seems to be a way of life, I’m rich, I’ve already received death threats against me, I’m an invalid with no legs, I think I’ve got an intruder in my house and I fear for my life, I might panic and go mad with my gun.
AND all I can imagine is that a rich defendant having the best defence lawyers money can buy plus a significantly important cultural status and a system with extremely misogynistic attitudes and shocking acceptance of violence towards women means they will probably walk free.
However, all I REALLY know is most of what I’ve read in this case seems to be based on lurid media speculation – because ALL I know is that I know diddly squat about happened there that night, and will continue not to know, until perhaps after the trial itself. Until then, the presumption of innocence remains.
Surely?
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted