The Solidarity Movement plans to mobilise ordinary South Africans to send thousands of letters to President Jacob Zuma's e-mail within two days. Printouts of the letters will be delivered in mailbags at Parliament on Tuesday morning before president Zuma's reply to the debate on his State of the Nation Address.
The letters will serve as a reaction to last Thursday's State of the Nation Address. According to Solidarity, President Zuma devoted approximately 2% of his speech to crime - far less than any of the government's other priorities. Less time was devoted to crime than the welcoming of the guests.
"We have little time and we call on South Africans to respond in their droves. We want to bombard President Zuma's personal e-mail with thousands of letters before his reply to the debate on his State of the Nation Address next Tuesday. Ordinary South Africans can send a letter via the webpage www.dearpresident.co.za. The letters will go directly to President's Zuma's own e-mail address. People who do not have access to e-mail can SMS the word ‘crime' to 35960. The SMS's will also act as voices of protest," said Dirk Hermann, deputy general secretary of Solidarity.
This action comes after the Solidarity Movement published a survey among its members, in which 73% said that crime is their single biggest concern. They therefore want to see crime feature much higher on the government's list of priorities. If crime is such a priority for Solidarity members, then it can be assumed that the broad Afrikaans and South African communities feel the same way about it.
The following letter to President Zuma was published on www.dearpresident.co.za:
"Dear Mr. Zuma
2% on crime is not enough
We looked forward to your State of the Nation Address with great anticipation. We were especially anxious to hear what you have to say about crime. Crime is ripping the country apart. Every day there are more headlines about murders. We don't even read the stories about violent crimes that do not involve murder or rape, because such stories are no longer out of the ordinary. When something is no longer out of the ordinary, it has become the norm. We will not accept that attacks on our people are becoming the norm.
We see crime as the biggest problem in the country, because crime kills, rapes and tortures. Crime causes fear and causes people to flee. Crime damages general and investor interest in the country. Crime threatens the success of the Soccer World Cup and scares off tourists.
The government's priorities were spelled out in your speech. Only 2% of your speech or 115 of your 4 411 words were devoted to crime. In other words, in a speech that lasted almost an hour, one minute was spent on crime.
You spent more time, or 132 words, welcoming guests of honour than talking about what you plan to do about crime. The Soccer World Cup and even your hotline received more attention than the issue of crime.
You spelled out clear outcomes for the government's priority areas, but no clear outcomes were given for crime.
Of all the priority areas, crime received the least attention. The economy and job creation received 6,5 times more attention. Improvement of service delivery received 6 times more attention. Education and training received more than 3 times the attention. Health received almost double the attention given to crime. The fight against crime cannot be put on the back burner until the targets of these other priorities have been met some day in the distant future.
We as citizens of South Africa respond as follows to your State of the Nation Address: 2% on crime is not enough. We expect more from your reply on Tuesday, 16 January 2010. We expect clear outcomes.
Concerned citizens of South Africa"
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