Cold Case, Racism and Injustice.

I stumbled upon a long post on Facebook that was filled with anger, disappointment and concern. Is color and race an important factor in crime and investigations in South Africa? Well Thobeka Felicia, a human rights activist, blogger and a criminology and political science scholar strongly believes that it does.

Amahle Thabethe an 8-year-old girl from Tsakane, Ekurhuleni that went missing in April has not been found and her case is now categorized as a cold case. There are no serious investigations, no valid leads and no arrests have been made and this doesn’t sit well with Thobeka, myself and many other people.

Thobeka went ahead addressing her concerns about Amahle not being found whereas a similar case was investigated thoroughly and solved within 48 hours. Amy-Leigh de Jager is a 6-year-old that was abducted outside her school, but was found and returned home safely the next day. Amy’s case received full media coverage, it was all over the newspapers, radio and television screens.

Amahle’s case is not being taken as seriously as Amy’s was. I personally haven’t seen anything about Amahle’s case on television, is it because she’s black and comes from an unprivileged family?

Human rights activist Thobeka was not holding back as she continued to highlight that police involvement was limited on Amahle’s case while Amy’s case was investigated by crime intelligence agencies, private investigators and national police commissioners and arrests were also made.

Why are people from “middle-class” families being deprived from resources and services that are available to every South African citizen?

We might not get the answers, but you have something to think about.

I am ANGRY.

I am Angry because people of the lower class often have to scrape the bottom of the barrel even if it pertains receiving justice they truly deserve.

And I am not saying that Amy-Leigh De Jager did not deserve the attention she has been getting let alone am I saying that her case is not worth the cause.

However I am saying that there seems to be a level of inequality portrayed in the way people are receiving their rights as citizens of the country especially under the catagories of protection.” -Thobeka