´óÏó´«Ã½

So today we're asking whether violent crime in South Africa is out of control ?

Naomi from Cape Town told us her sister was murdered in a motiveless crime. She doesn't believe the official statistics that say violent crime is down, and says the media are hiding the extent of it, and that people are getting de-sensitized to the amount of violent crime around.

Dirk in London - but originally from South Africa - said "it's a war zone" ...his clarinet teacher was shot dead, and his father's partner has been burgled 7 times.

Andrew, the host of our partner station for today, Jozi FM, said it was difficult to accept why Jabulani was attacked....masses of people from Soweto came to the station and many more called to express their grief. for many of them it was as if a brother or sister had died.

Christopher in Prague sent this comment
:

I was born and bred in south africa, and at the age of 20 i left to move to the czech republic because of crime. I will never move back!

A colleague of Jabu's who was with him when he died, recorded his account of that evening. He said they were heading home from work when they were approached by two guys, one armed. He brought out a gun, and started searching Jabulani; Jabu said 'don't touch me like this' and the guy just shot him in the head, then they ran away. Jabulani was lying there bleeding, and I immediately thought he was dead, because they'd shot him at such close range.

Igor in the UK said:

Jabu's death stabs at my heart too. Allow me, though, to join in Jabu's optimism about South Africa. It is sad that crime does not discriminate between the rich and the poor, ambitious or stale, but as you've mentioned, violent crime is a reality everywhere, and though Jabu's death is indeed incredibly heartbreaking, it could have been anyone else.

My condolences to WHYS, South Africa, and Jabu's Family for a loss due to a senseless murder.

The state of violent crime has always been a racial issue in SA. The impoverished slums of Soweto and Dobsonville are an aftermath of a white supremacist leadership, there is is no way to deny this

Gugu from the Sowetan newspaper said these events haven't dented her faith in the South African police; the battle against crime can't be won without them. People like Jabu are the ones who make the difference, not the ones who run away to Europe or America.

Around the satellite phone in the carpark at Jozi FM in Soweto, Sizwe said: "We can't just give up on the positive things." Reuben said Jabu was walking through a place close to where he worked, with a bad drug problem, and with high unemployment.

Donielle, who described herself as 'an African-American female' from New Orleans visited S Africa in May, but travelled to Soweto alone. She was there for two weeks by herself, and things weren't too different to the crime scene in the USA. She met plenty of people who were proud to be South African, but the media always report negative things about the country. Oprah Winfrey is starting a Leadership Academy in South Africa to attract bright youngsters, but you never read about it.

Naomi responded that crime in South Africa IS escalating; life is too cheap in South Africa; we have a chance now with the 2010 World Cup coming to the country, to start a serious discussion about crime. It's nothing to do with race, it's a social issue.

This anonymous text:

I travel all over the world as a volunteer. My mother has said that as long as she is alive i can never travel to south africa.

And some more comments just in:

DEBBIE, a South African living in Chicago:

I think violence appears to be worse in the country now because it's not so contained to the 'townships' as it was during the apartheid period.

MIA:

I'm a South African living in Europe - We in the west are creating fools in South Africa who want to grab the fruits of capitalism with guns and bullets.

KEITH:

Thousands of small arms were pumped into Southern Africa, either to the "freedom fighters" like the ANC or to the Governments in the region. In the euphoria of post apartheid South Africa, the parties failed to disarm properly the various armed groups.

Bungile, a journalist in the studio at Jozi FM, said Jabulani would have been disappointed if people lost faith in the new South Africa; crime is a universal problem, and it was important to be proud Sowetans and proud South Africans.

Another anonymous comment by email:

I've just tuned in and I got sad. I am portuguese from my father's side but South African from my mother. I was in cape town last christmas with my mother and I have to tell you that every time I go there my family always tell me crime is rising. Just yesterday I phoned my mother and she told me that my nephew's friend was murdered, the reason was a bicycle.

Chris sent this email:

As a South African-American with family in SA, I am often worried about their future safety. I remember a time when guards, gates and electrified fences were not necessary but they are now. I have tried to convince my cousins to emigrate to America - but to my surprise not one of them would consider it!

Another caller to Jozi FM said they were devastated by the death of Jabu, but South Africa had a serious drug problem and the police weren't capable of dealing with it.

Nona, the CEO of Jozi FM, said they were like a family that had lost a close family member, and it was a great surprise that the world had taken such a strong interest in his fate.

Shabba, a DJ with Y FM radio, said he still remembered the day in May when he was sitting next to Jabu during the making of the programme with the ´óÏó´«Ã½.

Andrew from Jozi FM said, if Jabu had heard our programme today, he would have wanted people to remain optimistic about the country and its future.