Friday November 17, 2006 06:35 - (SA)
Sowetan Online
Community plan to help Thibedi
Khanyisile Nkosi
The Young Communist League (YCL) has announced its plan to launch a community service campaign to help people who battle to get an ID from Home Affairs.
The campaign, which will kick off on November 28, is aimed at helping disgruntled community members who, like Kabelo Thibedi, have battled to get help from Home Affairs.
He said the campaign will see Thibedi and community members go from door to door providing people with information on where and how to apply for an ID.
"We will take details of people who are without IDs to Home Affairs for them to follow-up. We will monitor the situation," said YCL national secretary Buti Manamela.
But he said the campaign will be restricted to Meadowlands, where Thibedi resides.
The YCL also announced that it was going to establish a trust fund to help Thibedi with his legal fees. Manamela said the YCL was in discussions with various stakeholders to help with the trust fund.
Thibedi, who is appealing his five-year jail sentence, was sentenced after he held a Home Affairs employee hostage and demanded his ID.
Manamela said the YCL believed that Thibedi's sentence was "harsh". He said the court failed to look at the root of the problem - lazy Home Affairs officials.
"The five-year sentence should be given to the Home Affairs' officials. These people have committed a crime against the public for not providing a public service," he said.
Manamela called on Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to take steps against "lazy officials" in her department.
"The minister must look into her own department and see who deserves the punishment."
Manamela warned against sending people like Thibedi to jail, saying prisons played little role in their rehabilitation.
"Sending him to jail will not correct his conduct. Instead he might come out a hardened criminal. We know that the correctional system in our country has become a preparatory school for hardened criminals. This is what we are trying to prevent."
More letters from the public
Kabelo got life sentence
In my opinion Kabelo shouldn't go to jail. Why should we suffer again and again.
Under apartheid we suffered a great deal. I'm angry because it's always black people who have to suffer. What is the point of our democracy?
The judge could have given Kabelo community service, not a prison sentence.
It is prison because the guy never got the chance to apply for a job and so on. It is a disgrace to see our nation falling apart like this.
Portia Coetzee, Soweto, Dobsonville
Our justice is skewed
We have seen people at Home Affairs being caught taking money for bribes on national TV. They neglect to help people like Thibedi because they focus on bribes and forget what they were hired for.
Last year my father was killed. The man who ended his life was sentenced to five years, but served only three months in jail. If we compare the two, the government is missing something in terms of its laws. Thibedi must be warned and get his ID.
Matsobane Mathole
Same plight as Thibedi
I am appalled by the way the South African justice system is criminalising young Kabelo Thibedi.
I sympathise with the white woman he held hostage. At the same time, I cannot understand what lesson the justice system is giving to this young man.
I can relate to the plight of this young man because I have been waiting for more than two years to get my ID.
Ezrom Serame Mokgakala
IDs don't come in post
Magistrate Lucas van der Schyff told Kabelo Thibedi that instead of taking a hostage he should have written to the minister of Home Affairs and complained . Did he think Thibedi would receive an apology and his ID book in the post?
I am not convinced that Thibedi is a criminal and do not see which part of his personality requires rehabilitation.
Mlungisi Mzila, Tshwane
Voting ends today
Today is your last chance to vote - we will close the lines for the Kabelo Thibedi poll at midnight.
We will announce the results in next Thursday's edition of Sowetan . We had a massive response from readers throughout the country . People simply do not want Thibedi to go to jail.
Sowetan maintains that the blame for the Thibedi saga lies squarely with Home Affairs. For two years Thibedi went to Home Affairs offices countless times to collect an ID he had applied for - all in vain. He held a Home Affairs official hostage with a toy gun out of frustration, demanding his ID. For his troubles he was found guilty and sentenced to do time.
We think it is not Thibedi who needs fixing, but Home Affairs.
Vote. It is your last chance.