05/09/2019
BCYD STATEMENT ON THE RECENT XENOPHOBIC ATTACKS AND CASES OF FEMICIDES.
05 SEPTEMBER 2019
Baptist Convention Youth Department (BCYD) of South Africa condemn in the strongest terms possible, the attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa. In the same vein, the department lambaste the r**e culture and murders perpetrated by men against women.
Over the past couple of weeks, the country has been gripped by sporadic acts of violence against foreign nationals. The untruths spread about those seeking refuge and a better life in South Africa is that foreign nationals are peddling drugs, take away job opportunities from locals and are generally criminal. This couldn’t have been further from the truth. Criminals are criminals and there is no better description than this. Thus, acts of criminality cannot be attributed to a specific group of people. While there are foreign nationals who might be engaging in criminal activities in the country, the same can be said about South Africans who are engaging in criminal activities.
As a youth wing of the Baptist Convention of South Africa, we are totally dismayed by these attacks on our African brothers and sisters. This goes against our values as the Christian community. We learn from scriptures that in Christ we are one. In addition we call on the police to continue arresting anyone who breaks the law, either through opportunistic looting of shops owned by foreign nationals or pure acts of criminality which present themselves through the attacks of foreign nationals.
In the meantime, the department wants to remind South Africans of their very recent past where struggle stalwarts sought refuge in other African countries during the fight against apartheid. “It was our African brothers and sisters on the continent who supported the fight against apartheid until the advent of democracy in South Africa. This calls us to, at the very least, be empathetic towards foreign nationals in South Africa who are in this country for various reasons.
In the midst of the attacks against foreign nationals, the crime of ra**ng women and killing them in cold blood has to the country being shocked, dismayed and angry. As a result, the department would like to add its voice in denouncing these senseless criminal behaviour which has no place anywhere in the world. “As men in the country, we hang our heads in shame. However, we quickly need to recover from this shame and begin to engage in meaningful conversations as men in a bid to bring about solutions to ensure we treat all women with love and care. Moreover, we call on all men to desist from committing crimes against women. “History will Judge us harshly if the good men who are left, keep quiet and only watch in horror as these senseless crimes continue to take place under our watch. We need to begin to be part of the solution. No man is entitled to the body of any woman. In fact, we need to be role models as men because we were all raised by women.
Indeed, as historical figure Martin Luther King Jr once said: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”. We call for all men to stand together and say enough is enough! Not in our name shall these crimes be committed.
In light of the current shameful state of affairs in the country, we call for immediate reforms. “We are calling for reforms in which the legal justice system in the country addresses the issue of crime. We are not calling for legislative reforms, however, we are calling for the criminal justice system to uphold the rule of law without any fear or favour and for the courts to impose harsh sentences on those who are found guilty of having committed a crime. This will serve as a deterrent to would-be criminals.
Over and above praying that God intervenes and bring an immediate end to the unrest gripping the country, we call for all South Africans to exercise maximum restraint and treat all women with care. “If anyone suspects either a foreign national or a South African of engaging in criminal activities, we call upon all of us to report such acts of criminality to the police so the law can take its cause. Taking the law into your own hands is totally unacceptable as this will render the country ungovernable, which is extremely undesirable in any legitimate democracy.
On the whole, as BCYD, we are for love, peace, harmony and respect for human dignity of all women and all people who find themselves in our shores.
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