extopia said:
delgirl, you made a reference earlier that when you lived in SA it used to be OK to shoot black "trespassers". While you did not say you agreed with such behaviour, I assumed your point was that our own modern laws here are a little behind? Perhaps I misunderstood you.
Originally Posted by delgirl
We lived in South Africa in the 80's when it wasn't against the law to shoot an intruder. Yes, it was during the apartheid years and yes, most of the intruders were black. I understand that the law there has now changed and the number of buglaries has soared as the criminals no longer fear being shot.
If your participation in the white SA regime was not of your own choice (or that of your family, assuming you share their values) -- or indeed if you were there to work with the dispossessed majority -- well then the fact that you lived in SA is irrelevant to your judgement of how best to deal with the transgressions of the "underclass", and if that's the case I apologise.
Yes, you misunderstood me - I never said it was ok to shoot black trespassers. It was acceptable then to use a firearm to defend yourself and
most of, not all, the intruders were black. This law also included intruders who were white, coloured's, Cape Malay and Indians.
I went to South Africa on a Government sponsored training programme which aimed to train black, coloured and ethnic Indians to take over the role of Management in the particular sector of the serivice industry I was involved in.
When I left my first assignment, an ethnic Indian lady by the name of Ella Govender took over as outlet manager and I am still in touch with her to this day.
On completion of my second assignment, a Tswana man called Laurence Magano took over the management of that outlet.
So you see, even back in the 80's the Government were working towards education and training, although you probably wouldn't have heard much about that over here.
I'm very proud of what I achieved in South Africa and have great respect for all the South African people regardless of their race.
I am also married to a non-EU national - so to suggest that I am in any way racist is just a non-starter.
I also never mentioned Mr Ward's ethnicity - it doesn't interest me at all. If it had been a settled person, I would say exactly the same thing - if you go out with the intention of burgling someone's home, then you should be prepared to accept the consequences if the homeowner decides to protect himself, his family and property.
) demise was unfortunate due to his choice of profession and standards of citizenship and his children are going to grow up perhaps the better for it. When the dust settles and these children and mother have finished from grieving hopefully will look at the facts and realise that crime does not pay. Perhaps the Widow will meet a nice man (from any community - settled or unsettled) who has more moral fortitude than her previous selection and can provide these orphans with a more suitable (in terms of law abiding and respect for others) role model. Thus I can see good coming out from this situation.