And the recriminations can now begin.
Morne Harmse, the schoolboy with the masks and the Samurai sword who killed a fellow pupil at his Krugersdorp School last year, was this week sentenced to an effective 20 years in prison.
And of course, there are those who think this is too lenient and those who think it is too harsh. Aren’t there always?
In sentencing someone for these sort of crimes, I believe, a number of different factors have to be taken into consideration by the judge: the degree of premeditation, the effects of the crime and perhaps most importantly, the underlying reasons that the incident took place. And on that, there is also considerable disagreement. The sensationalists went with Satanism and Slipknot, the more rational minds with the sorry mental state of a confused and misunderstood teenage boy.
The State - pandering to the masses - wheeled out Kobus Jonker, self-styled “expert” on “the occult”, who interviewed Harmse and gave testimony that although he (Harmse) had dabbled in “the occult”, there was little evidence to suggest that this was the cause of Harmse’s attack. Wrong coloured candles, apparently. Helpful stuff.
Jonker has a dubious reputation in South Africa, as Jacques Rousseau points out in The Star today and one can only hope that in sentencing, the judge completely disregarded the nonsense this “expert” gave the court.
Perhaps there would be more value in following the advice of The Times commenter ‘RSinangola’ on this issue:
Bring back corporal punishment at school and at home and there will be a more than 50% chance that this won’t happen again.
RSinangola explains neither the background nor the mathematical workings behind his theory, but since he has submitted them for publication in a national newspaper, I think we can rest assured that he has thoroughly tested his hypothesis.
And until someone comes up with a better plan, which may give us, say, ”a more than 75% chance that this won’t happen again”, maybe we should take his comment on board and reinstitute corporal punishment forthwith.
Well done, that man.
9 Comments
Personally, I think it is a better idea if parents simply don’t allow samurai swords in the house.
.-= Emil´s last blog ..This Apple user is having a #FridayFun moment =-.
Emil > RSinangola says so, yes.
Well, you only need to look to the UK, where children now have more rights than their own parents…
It’s all going Pete Tong here!
.-= Helga Hansen´s last blog ..Me, me, me meme! =-.
HH > Meh. Some kids will always fall through the cracks anyway. There was no system in place to foresee this particular case, although in retrospect, warning signs deluxe were there.
A few minutes before the church services started, the congregation was sitting in their pews and talking.
Suddenly, Satan appeared at the front of the church. Everyone started screaming and running for the back entrance, trampling each other in a frantic effort to get away from evil incarnate.
Soon the church was empty except for one elderly gentleman who sat calmly in his pew without moving, seemingly oblivious to the fact that God’s ultimate enemy was in his presence.
So Satan walked up to the man and said, ‘Do you know who I am?’
The man replied, ‘Yep, sure do.’
‘Aren’t you afraid of me?’ Satan asked.
‘Nope, sure ain’t.’ said the man.
‘Don’t you realize I can kill you with one word?’ asked Satan.
‘Don’t doubt it for a minute,’ returned the old man, in an even tone.
‘Did you know that I can cause you profound, horrifying AGONY for all eternity?’ persisted Satan.
‘Yep,’ was the calm reply.
‘And you’re still not afraid?’ asked Satan.
‘Nope,’ said the old man.
More than a little perturbed, Satan asked, ‘ Why aren’t you afraid of me?’
The man calmly replied, ‘Been married to your sister for 48 years.’
Capital punishment would pretty much guarantee a 0% reoffending rate.
Always assuming, of course, that we don’t see the dead arise in a zombie plague.
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DW > Groan.
Ro > I think that’s what Morne had begun doing…
how do kids get through the school gates with a samurai sword?
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ctguy > Look, I don’t want to give any unruly kids any sort of hints here, but basically you tuck it in your sock.