Monday Motivation: Respecting the gift of life
This Monday Motivation, let us return back to honouring the gift of life!
Over the weekend, South Africa was left shocked after a five-year-old boy was killed in a hijacking in Soshanguve, Pretoria.
According to media reports, the boy had run outside to welcome his father home at around 10:30pm when the hijacking happened and the boy was shot dead.
The killing of the five-year-old comes a week after the country mourned the death of popular comedian and entertainer Mashata, who was also shot in Soshanguve.
Taking someone's life has become so easy in South Africa.
The country's murder rate went up by 2% in the last quarter of 2023, with nearly 8,000 people murdered, reports defenceWeb.
One other burning issue in South Africa at the moment is also the high rate of deaths among young people. Parents and grandparents are finding themselves burying their children and this shouldn't be so.
A 2023 report by the World Health Organisation states that over 1.5-million adolescents and young adults aged 10–24 years died in 2021, about 4,500 every day.
Although this is due to various reasons, including but not limited to suicides, drinking and driving, and nyaope, it is still of great concern.
READ: Monday Motivation: Let your light shine
Where is the respect for life? Why are people's lives destroyed so easily?
As a nation, it is important to self-introspect.
The high level of unemployment and the lack of ubuntu are just some of the social ills that have resulted in the country experiencing many premature deaths.
This Monday Motivation, as people, we need to go back to being kind and loving. We need leaders who will put the needs of the people they serve first.
We need to go back to realising that life is precious and should be honoured by all despite age, race, or gender.
As Pope Francis once said: "The right to life is the first among human rights."
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