In the fourth episode of Sharp Sharp, the new podcast brought to you by Currency and Scrolla.Africa, Rob Rose and Zukile Majova delve into the unnoticed epidemic of road rage in South Africa.
The event that sparked the discussion took place in Emmarentia in Joburg last week, when a routine bumper bashing escalated wildly. In the end, a 48-year-old Pakistani national, Zawar Faisal Ul Rehman, was shot and killed, while his wife was wounded and is now in hospital. According to the warning statement given by the 58-year-old who killed Ul Rehman, his wife had pulled a gun from the car and fired shots first, leading to him acting in “self-defence”.
It’s a murky story, and deeply unnecessary. But it focused attention on how much of South Africa’s sky-high murder rate – 45 murders per 100,000 people, seven times the global average – is due to road rage.
Take the three months from October to December last year: more than 18% of all murders (1,158 of 6,351) were due to “arguments/misunderstandings/road rage/provocation”.
Now, those statistics don’t break it down further, but for it to have featured as a subcategory illustrates how frequently it happens – and how poorly South Africans are able to handle themselves.
What made this case especially traumatic is that the video footage shows the slain man’s children running towards him as the so-called “adults” wield guns. In fact, an Automobile Association survey found that in 47% of road rage incidents, children were in the car.
Not only does this road rage death underscore why South Arica is ranked first in the world for aggressive drivers, but it also provides further vindication for the harsh five-year jail sentence imposed last week on EFF leader Julius Malema for firing a gun into the air.
The podcast also looks at another scourge: the extent to which xenophobic violence is building on the streets of Durban. Scrolla’s royal correspondent, Celani Sikhakhane, details how every political party except the DA is using anti-immigrant rhetoric ahead of the local government elections. Sikhakhane explains why the Zulu king is just about the only person with the moral authority in that province to calm the xenophobia storm.
And finally, as police commissioner Fannie Masemola appears in court over a dodgy R360m tender, we explore why scandal continues to haunt anyone who holds the office of top cop – especially since three police commissioners have now faced criminal charges.
More critically, why is it that President Cyril Ramaphosa has yet to fire either Masemola or police minister Senzo Mchunu.
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ALSO LISTEN:
- PODCAST: ‘Sharp Sharp’ – Mam’Nontsapho and the same old white guys
- PODCAST: The great South African reboot
- PODCAST: ‘Sharp Sharp’ – The Taco, the GNU and the ANC rebels
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