COSATU concerned at damage to South Africa's reputation by Dewani case

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has noted the dramatic developments in the case of the murder of Anni Dewani, in Gugulethu in November, for which her husband Shrien has now been implicated by the taxi driver who has turned state witness (see Mail & Guardian report).

The law must now take its course and COSATU hopes that all those responsible for the murder will now be brought to justice.

COSATU is however concerned at the damage that this case is doing to South Africa's reputation. The murder appears to have been planned in South Africa on the assumption that hijacking and murder are believed to be so commonplace that it would be easy to stage a murder and then claim that it was just another normal criminal act. The implication is that this would seem credible given the high levels of crime in the country.

This has enabled the international media to continue with the sort of negative propaganda about South Africa's crime levels which they were spewing out in the run-up to the World Cup.

Let us hope that the swift and efficient way in which this case has been dealt with, and the fact that it is now becoming clear that it was planned by a non-South African, will help to restore the country's reputation to the levels we achieved during and after the World Cup, when the prophets of doom and disaster were completely refuted.

Statement issued by Patrick Craven, COSATU national spokesperson, December 7 2010

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