Today's letters to the editor

Who can we trust if not the police?

The alleged corruption and manipulation within the ranks of SAPS is alarming. If we cannot trust our police service and the judiciary, then who can we trust?

The allegations made by Lieutenant-­General Mkhwanazi about internal misconduct within SAPS appear to have substance and must be investigated without interference.

Adding to this is the Tembisa Hospital fiasco, where R2 billion in irregular and corrupt tenders were uncovered. The SIU’s raid on one of the alleged perpetrators, Hangwani Maumela, resulting in the seizure of four Lamborghinis and a Bentley, is disgraceful in a country where people are scavenging for food.

Corruption is crippling South Africa. The SIU must be given more resources, more funding, and more freedom to root out the rot. Independent investigators such as Mike Bolhuis could help. Call him in. | Colin Bosman Newlands

Taking sides in the Gaza tragedy

When the Gaza conflict violently resurfaced two years ago – though its roots stretch back to the late 1940s – readers, writers and ordinary people immediately picked a side.

Like choosing between Manchester United or Liverpool, Durban City or Addington, Kaizer Chiefs or Swallows – it became either Israel or Palestine.

Opinions, condemnation and outrage flew across the world like atomic-powered drones, charged with emotion and ideology.

Now, in this uneasy lull before the next inevitable storm – for it will come – we have a brief chance to reflect. Those who stood for the basic rights of the oppressed stood on the correct side of history. The right of Gaza has, at least morally, overpowered the might of Tel Aviv – no matter how many Oosthuizens may try to argue otherwise.

But history is cyclical. When the evil phoenixes rise again from their ashes, seeking once more to occupy and dominate, we will face the same choice.

So, while the field is quiet and the teams are in their change rooms, we must decide once more: when the whistle blows again, which side will we back – the Right, or the Wrong? There isn’t much time to decide. | Ebrahim Essa Durban

The real terror lies in the numbers

When Hamas gunmen attacked Israel on October 7 2023, killing about 1 200 people, the world recoiled in horror.

But nothing is said of the 1 400 Palestinians killed by the IDF during Operation Cast Lead, which lasted from December to January 2009. Also, nothing is said about the 2251 Palestinians killed during the 50 days of Operation Protective Edge in 2014. But moral clarity requires looking beyond one day’s savagery to the broader balance of violence in this long war.

According to Israel’s own human-rights group, B’Tselem, and the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israeli forces killed roughly 16 000 Palestinians between 1990 and October 6, 2023 – the day before Hamas’s assault. Many were civilians, including thousands of children. Over that same period, Israel’s army has averaged more than 400 Palestinian deaths every year, through bombings, raids, and sieges in Gaza and the West Bank.

These are not isolated flare-ups. They are the product of a 57-year military occupation and a 17-year siege that turned Gaza into what the UN once called an “open-air prison.” Israel controls Gaza’s borders, airspace, electricity, and water while claiming it “withdrew” in 2005 – yet still bombards, blockades, and dictates every aspect of life there.

Each time militants fire rockets, the IDF unleashes overwhelming force: apartment towers, schools, hospitals, and power plants reduced to rubble. During the 2014 offensive alone, more than 2 200 Palestinians were killed, two-thirds civilians, the UN found. In the occupied West Bank, lethal raids and settlement expansion continue unchecked.

Hamas’s killings were war crimes. But the state of Israel bears the greater responsibility, because a state’s army is bound by law to protect civilians, not destroy them. An occupying power cannot claim “self-defence” against the people it occupies. The repeated, large-scale killing of civilians is not defence; it is domination.

Western governments condemn Hamas yet arm Israel, granting it impunity. The numbers tell their own story: 16 000 Palestinians dead before October 7, 2023, versus 1 200 Israelis in one day.

One side lives under siege; the other controls the siege. Until that truth is faced, peace will remain impossible – and the real terror will continue to wear a uniform. | Adiel Ismail Cape Town

Setting record straight on migration

As a UK resident visiting South Africa, I was astonished to read a letter published under the subtitle “British perspective on the reality of illegal migration”. It presented a grossly misleading picture and seemed intended to stir antagonism against a particular racial group.

I wish to refute the assertions made by Lloyd. I write from Musselburgh, on the Firth of Forth near Edinburgh – a position that gives me a far clearer understanding of conditions in the UK than one might have from Scottburgh, lapped by the Indian Ocean.

The UK, as a signatory to international accords, is obliged to accept refugees who meet the legal criteria. Yet successive governments have made it almost impossible for people fleeing persecution to apply for asylum from outside the country, forcing them to risk their lives crossing the Channel in fragile boats.

Contrary to the claims made, asylum seekers are not given “free accommodation in upmarket hotels” or “free phones and airtime.” Under UK law, only emergency medical care is free to all, and those without resident status – including tourists – must pay for any further treatment. Temporary accommodation in hotels has been used solely because social housing was drastically reduced years ago.

The real housing crisis in the UK stems from decades of poor policy and an over-reliance on the private market, not from refugees or migrants.

Unfortunately, some political groups seek to use this issue to sow racial division. Lloyd’s inclusion of people from India in this narrative is especially troubling, as it widens hostility even further.Keir Starmer, whatever one thinks of his policies, is the elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom – not “a traitor selling out his country.”

During my stay in South Africa, I have been met with warmth, generosity and optimism for a shared future. It would be tragic if the UK were to import the kind of racial division that once caused such deep pain here. Those who promote lies and prejudice must be challenged – and I hope I have done that.

As a much better man once said: “Never and never again.” | John Anzani Scotland