Two things stand out about the fatal road-rage shooting that occurred in Johannesburg’s Emmarentia suburb last Sunday afternoon.
The first is how totally unnecessary it was — an extreme overreaction to an apparently minor incident, an irritation that rapidly spiralled into aggression and a violent death, leaving two children highly traumatised and without a father.
The second is that the occupants of both vehicles were armed. On a Sunday afternoon family drive in suburbia? While an inquest will determine culpability, it is clear that, had there been no firearms in the picture, the afternoon would have ended very differently.
We live in a constant state of fear, believing we are on our own and, for some, that carrying a gun is the only way we can protect ourselves
South Africans have become desensitised to violent crime. We read and hear about it every day, and many of us have been victims of it. But when a family outing on a Sunday afternoon ends in such an unnecessarily violent way, it’s a wake-up call to us all.
Policing in South Africa is severely impaired. Because of this, we live in a constant state of fear, believing we are on our own and, for some, that carrying a gun is the only way we can protect ourselves. We are quick to anger, hasty to resort to violence and always alert to possible danger lurking ahead.
Only when South Africa has a fully functional police force that has brought crime under control and gained the trust of the population can we begin to address the “fight or flight” reaction that has become ingrained in us all.
Until then, terrified South Africans will continue to hide behind high walls and arm themselves to the teeth in a desperate bid to feel safe. Yet despite this, the perception — and the reality — of safety will remain as elusive as ever.
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