South Africa: Debate Revives Over Death Penalty Restoration

As ANC leaders revive calls to restore the death penalty, evidence shows capital punishment neither deters crime nor protects survivors from wrongful convictions. "ANC Lives. ANC Leads" goes the slogan, much loved by party members. It is emblazoned on T-shirts, posters, pamphlets and paraphernalia distributed at conferences. This was certainly true once upon a time, that bygone era when the party actually had something to offer the people. What came out of the mouths of the leaders was considered, and policy proposals emanating from the party had meat on the bones. In a plural society replete with ideas, some of these utterances and proposals were contentious, but they were the kind of stuff you could work with. A far cry from the yelling populism of today. Last week, the ANC's deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane was trudging the streets of Ekurhuleni, where she was offering her and her party's condolences to the families of the nine femicide victims and venting anger at this scourge blighting our country. She empathised with the community, assured them and the country that no stone would be left unturned in the quest to track the killer or killers and also sent a message to the women of South Africa that the government was all hands on deck in the battle against gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF). Read the full story on Daily Maverick . AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 90 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals , representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica . To address comments or complaints, please Contact us . AllAfrica is a voice of, by and about Africa - aggregating, producing and distributing 600 news and information items daily from over 90 African news organizations and our own reporters to an African and global public. We operate from Cape Town, Dakar, Abuja, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington DC. Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy . We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.