The South African Police Service (SAPS) hold as common knowledge that by far the majority of murders are committed by family members and occasionally by known associates. When Ani Dewani was murdered in Cape Town, the police immediately suspected her husband of the crime, because they know that most murders are committed by family, and he was family, even if only for a short while. Oscar has the same problem – the police know that he’s guilty, because of the family tie (somewhat tenuous and ill-advised as that tie may be).
When our house was burgled, our neighbours told us that they believe the gardener dunnit, because, from what they hear from the police, that’s the normal thing. Gardeners do things like that.
In other news, drivers that have dashboard cameras tend to be involved in more traffic accidents – have a look on youtube: dashboard cameras are involved in the majority of accidents recorded. Duh. Perhaps the truth is that because it’s easier to catch the family member, the gardener and the butler, we know that the butler did it.
The take away message from today’s rant is that if you want to knock someone off, or take their stuff, make sure that there are no family or work ties between you and your victim, since that’s the kind of tie the police know about. If you’re a crime tourist, don’t come to South Africa to have your family done in. (Rather go to a country where murdering your family is your unassailable right as a matter of “honour”.) Our police might not be the best ever, but they do know how to wrap up that one special case.
