Securing our Neighborhoods and Keeping Our Families Safe is our responsibility

We've heard it many times now that murders and rapes in South Africa are more often than not perpetrated by people close to the victims. This appears to be the case in the Estee van Rensburg murder - the suspect was 'a trusted employee and well liked by the residents of Faerie Glen, where he worked as an armed reaction officer'. The same is true of little Sheldean's murderer - in fact the little girl often visited him, ostensibly for food.
Anthony Altbeker, in his book (A Country At War With Itself) describes how difficult it is to crack down on crime when it is essentially happening spontaneously, in homes, between people who know each other. These crimes are fairly easy to solve, but to pre-empt and prevent is well-nigh impossible.

This means we need to be vigilant and suspicious (unfortunately), but hopefully not at the expense of walling up and dividing the community. These seem to be mutually exclusive objectives. However, if you REALLY get to know the people around you (as you do your own family) I suppose you can start to smell a rat. This requires effort. Making the effort to speak to people around you. Seeing how they operate. Understanding their motivations and frustrations, and in particular, their beliefs. It's either that or hoping the police are going to chance upon someone in some random suburb.

If we care we have to care actively in our communities - by taking care of (and paying attention) to others, we also take care of ourselves.