REVIEW

Like Sands Through the Hour Glass...

South Afrika started 2008 without a national Commissioner of Police Jackie Selebi after his implication in corruption and defeating the ends of justice. Quite interesting, recently local television soapies have been explicitly imitating the real life in crime-ridden South Africa. The number one contender in this art imitating life episode is the number one soapy in the country, Generations.

A couple of friends brought it to my attention that these days nobody trusts the South African Police Service anymore. They complain that police are not committed to upholding the rule of law but they are a corrupt bunch out to be bribed - a fish always rots from the head, they say. They go to the extent of claiming that there's no police officer who can claim to be serving and protecting, expect those in VIP Protection and Presidential Protection Units.

Speaking of soapies, two years ago Isidingo had an episode whereby Barker Heyns and his cronies tried to topple a government in north Africa, install a puppet regime inorder to access its mineral resources. The plot failed and Barker's men were arrested and tortured. This was an exploration of the Mark Thatcher escapade in central Africa where he paid mercenaries to topple a government and install a puppet so as to access off-shore oil reserves and minerals fro his company.

Generations is tops when it comes to reflecting our society. Remember that Karabo's former husband Mandla Sithole was murdered but nobody was arrested and charged as police kept on bungling the investigations. This was despite having a bunch of suspects, including Tau Mogale.

Then Tau Mogale was killed by thugs related to Jack Mabaso and again nobody was arrested regardless of guns being used in all these murders and guns always leaving a trail whenever they are used. The burnt gunpowder on the hand and clothes of the shooter which lasts up for few days, the spent catridge, the calibre of the gun and the ashes and markings in the barrel. The way Jack bought and sold dockets was not new, lest nobody in police communications wrote a letter to complain about the inaccuracy of the insinuation. Everything you see on Interrogation Room (SABC1) is fabrication, reality is on Generations.

A classical one that started this debate was Karabo's kidnapping of a child which later resulted in the child being named after her and her not being arrested and charged. Wow! That's a classic SAPS bungling. My lawyer friend says that in any civilised country Karabo should have faced charges of kidnapping, attempting to defeat the ends of justice, human trafficking, possession of stolen property and conspiracy to commit a crime.

Forget that she brought the child to the police, that would have been part of her plea-bargaining not a license to be let scott-free without a charge.

But now, Generations reflects our reality and what do you expect of the SAPS? Typical example is a real life story of person who was hit by a car and killed on New Year's Day, the car hitting another person and later fleeing the scene. The driver is known, the parents are influencial members of society and more than fifteen days later, the SAPS is still investigating and nobody has been charged - let alone of culpable homicide. Meanwhile, one person was buried on January 5, 2008, the other one will stay in hospital for a long time and will need reconstructive surgety and the SAPS sees nothing wrong.