We see the Pros but what about the Cons?

I’m not going to write about the advantages of circumcision partly because once someone raise the issue of circumcision all you hear it’s good good good and all advantages of circumcision,  but again one has to ask about the disadvantages? Surely there must be some disadvantages. Why is South African government preaching circumcision at the first place ? does it really reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS ? or they feel the pressure to counter the number of boys who die in the mountains on botched circumcision during the winter months?

After a rigorous circumcision campaign by the government, I seriously considered circumcising too. I remember having a serious conversation with friends who were already circumcised about the pros and cons. My argument was around the foreskin being there for a reason and that its removal must have a negative effect especially when it comes to having sex. I also compared circumcision with the female removal of the clitoris.  Well as the debate raged on, no one really gave me a conclusive answer that circumcising reduces the spread of HIV/AIDS or cancer of the penis or any other advantage that is. Instead everyone kept on saying the doctors can’t be wrong, others said it’s our culture and people have been circumcising for centuries. Others cited hygiene reasons.

Doing a series of research on this subject I discovered these disadvantages with circumcision:

• Reduced sensitivity – an uncircumcised penis is more sensitive than a circumcised penis, meaning that circumcised men may experience less pleasure during sex.
• Potential complications of circumcision – these include excessive bleeding, post-operative infection and, in rare cases, injury to the urethra. These complications are thought to outweigh any potential benefits.
•  Increased risk of meatitis – inflammation of the opening of the penis.

More on some of the myths and facts can be found here : http://www.intactamerica.org/learnmore

My point really is why aren’t we told of the disadvantages really ? Once one remove his foreskin, they cannot replace it which means that they are screwed for life. So surely one deserves a clear explanation before the surgery. One more question that I have is why people themselves don’t want to question circumcision? The fact that it’s been done for centuries does not make it right.

I understand one has a choice to choose whether they want to be circumcised or not ( I must also point out that some don’t have that choice but are pressured) BUT we should be given more information so that we can make informed decisions.

Who is really behind this crime in SA?

Crime affects us all regardless of where one stays, your skin color and your financial status. I used to think people in the townships were more affected by crime than those in the urban areas until I came to Johannesburg and stayed in Sandton. There were as much hijackings and house break-ins there as when I was in the townships. At one point there were cars that got stolen at the parking right in front of our office. One other colleague was hijacked as she was about to reach work. infact we saw the hijackers leaving with her car and this all happened in Benmore Sandton.

According to the latest stats there is approximately 53 million people living in South Africa and over 6 million people in Johannesburg alone. Breaking down the numbers I’m just asking myself that in the 6 million inhabitants of Johannesburg how many percentage is involved in crime, especially violent crime ? Is it a million ? A hundred thousand ?  or perhaps 10 thousand.

You see since the dawn of democracy South Africa has been wreaked havoc by violent crime and this had serious ripple effects on our international image. Some say it came about the apartheid system which forced people to be exposed to violence for years while fighting for emancipation while others say it was exacerbated by the scores of foreigners in the republic others on the other hand are blaming the justice system for being lenient on law breakers.

I somehow fail to understand why this can’t be remedied, I mean we are dealing with something we know here. We also have laws in place. Stats released annually indicate the increase and decline of different categories of crime, I in particular like to read stats concerning contact crime like murder,rape, stabbings and car hijackings than the more sophisticated crime like fraud and white collar crime in general. So to me this should give us a starting point into solving this issue.

My question is “Who is really behind this crime in SA?” I’ know the person involved in crime has some degree of morality in them, they love the arts, music, painting, they have something they adore like family, they have kids,  I know there is someone they respect. I mean though they commit these heinous crimes, I know they are people after all, I’m not sure if the stats also address the profiling of these people. They might be doing the crime because they purely want to survive. They might be doing it because of anger. They might be doing it because of greed! I believe there is good in everyone and everyone in life has something or someone they identify with. Some people use words to express how they feel while others use the gun to make you listen but again we are not all eloquent while have tolerance and respect, hence my concern is with the person who does not know any kind of lifestyle besides the one of crime. Who is this person ?  Surely the people who decided to change the name “Jail” or ” Prison” to ” Correctional Services” must have thought about these things but again are the Correctional Services achieving their goal?

Is the Correctional Services winning in socialising this person  back to the community? We’ve seen government admitting that policies like Willing buyer Willing Seller of land has failed. It has also changed a number of times the curriculum on basic education which to me is a sign of admitting failure. When are they going to admit that the system here has failed? I’m not sure about bringing back the death penalty but perhaps other measures need to be explored.

I still think we can bring down the crime in the Republic.