Violent Flowers in memoriam of the dream of the New South Africa

The murder of teenager Franziska Blöchliger prompted many people to place flowers on a fence close to the place she died. A week after the incident I decided to photograph the dying flowers as a visual symbol of the dream of our New South Africa. Franziska Blöchliger was brutally murdered and raped on the afternoon of Monday 7th March in Tokai Forest, a very popular recreation area in the upmarket Southern Suburbs of Cape Town. This incident touched me personally as it is an area I frequent at least twice a week to walk my dog. The week before, Sinoxolo Mafevuka was raped and murdered and her body found on March 1st in a communal toilet four minutes from her home in Khayelitsha’s SST Section, Cape Town. These are just two of the more than 17 000 murders committed each year, most of which are perpetrated by people known to the victims. Many began to question why the Tokai incident attracted more attention than the Khayelitsha murder and as a result the 1st murder gained more media attention and police attention. The questions of unequal media attention i.e. inequality generally and why we have so many de-humanised people in our community is something I often think about and these incidents prompted me to do some research, this article holds some answers for me. https://africacheck.org/2014/09/17/comment-why-is-crime-and-violence-so-high-in-south-africa-2/ In a nutshell we have two problems, gross inequality and a really bad attitude towards the law by all sectors of society. Our history plays a role as does the present, unfortunately it seems that many who were advantaged by Apartheid and Colonialism do not want to acknowledge the past and would rather believe that all our problems began in 1994. I believe that if all who profited from our past could acknowledge that they did profit and then take responsibility by playing a role in reducing the inequalities plaguing our society it would be a step in the right direction. That includes 1st world companies that profit from resources stolen from Africa. Each individual must set the example by respecting the rule of law including those in positions of power and those responsible for making and enforcing the law. As a society we need to change our attitude towards the law and each one of us can play a role.