READER LETTER | SA has become a haven for brazen lawbreakers

Over the festive season I met an officer travelling in a police van. I whined and whinged about the prevalence of illegal drugs at a restaurant and pub where a community policing forum's meetings are held on Mondays.

It is a notorious drugs-peddling area.

As our conversation proceeded, four men passed by holding partly drunk alcohol bottles. He remarked that, though it was unlawful to drink in public, there’s little or nothing he could do. “The thugs insult and even beat us up. I am alone without adequate back-up,” he said.

That’s how lawless our country has become. A haven for lawbreakers and frustration for law-abiding citizens. We consume alcoholic beverages like water to fish.

This brings me to the BMW vehicle spun by Lyton Chikandiwa in Salvokop in Pretoria on Saturday. Three innocent children lost their lives. Townships, informal settlements and villages are densely populated by the poor.

High-speed cars are for the rich. Car racing courses in suburbia are zoned for flaunting exorbitant four wheels at top speed. Go and spin your cars or drag race them there! I thought racing in residential areas, the killing of school kids and the conviction of musician Jub Jub would be a deterrent.

Let’s learn from past folly.

Thami Zwane, Edenvale, Ekurhuleni