Fear, horror & outrage: SA unites in call for #SAShutDown 'Our country is bleeding'

03 September 2019 - 06:56
By Jessica Levitt
Proudly South African? Not this week.
Image: Gallo Images Proudly South African? Not this week.

Thousands of South Africans have united in the call for urgent government intervention after murder, looting and kidnapping incidents rocked the country.

A petition called Save South Africa addressed to President Cyril Ramaphosa has been signed by over 25,000 people.

It calls on Ramaphosa to take action in the midst of a spate of looting incidents across Gauteng, the murder of UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana and the kidnapping of six-year-old Amy-Lee de Jager outside her school.

De Jager has since been reunited with her family. After undergoing numerous medical tests, she was found to have been unharmed.  

"The country is burning, women are being murdered & children are being kidnapped. But that was just today. The crime in South Africa is OUT OF CONTROL! The country we love is falling apart. You need to do something. Today. Now," reads part of the petition.

On social media, calls for a nationwide shutdown in protest against government inaction saw thousands comment on crime in the country.