Speaker, die oproepe vir die inspanning van die weermag om die vreemdelingehaat-aanvalle teen te werk, en die regering se skynbare gewilligheid om daaraan gehoor te gee, spreek van dubbele standaarde.
U sien, op die Kaapse Vlakte en elders word honderde jongmense vermoor in bendegeweld en op plase word boere en hul werkers steeds vermoor, maar die regering hanteer dit nie met dieselfde erns nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Mr S SIMMONS (NA): Speaker, calls for the deployment of the Defence Force to counteract xenophobic attacks and government's apparent willingness to respond to it are evidence of double standards.
Hundreds of young people are being murdered in gang-related violence on the Cape Flats and elsewhere, and farmers and their workers are still being murdered on farms, but government does not handle this with the same earnestness.]
Last year, in the Budget Vote on Defence, I called upon the hon Minister of Defence to avail more Defence Force resources to fight against crime, together with the intelligence services.
It is my conclusion that if these xenophobic attacks did not enjoy these levels of media attention, government would most likely not have given it the current level of attention it has. So, gang-related murders and farm killings will only receive this kind of drastic action once they become more topical again. I thank you.