SPURRA🐐

BBC News, I am a foreigner living in South Africa, and I believe your reporting is doing an injustice to this country when you highlight violence against foreigners without giving equal attention to the serious crime that fuels public frustration. As a foreigner, I refuse to pretend that crime committed by other foreigners is not a problem simply because I am one of them. My nationality does not require me to defend wrongdoing, and my empathy for foreigners does not require me to dismiss the legitimate concerns of South Africans. There are reports of foreign nationals implicated in drug trafficking, human trafficking, illegal drug laboratories and cable theft. A foreign national was also reportedly involved in running over a Crime Intelligence specialist. These incidents deserve serious scrutiny and consistent reporting, too. If BBC News can report when a foreigner is beaten to death, it should also report on crimes committed against South Africans, regardless of the perpetrator’s nationality. If you believe violence against foreigners deserves international attention, surely the victims of crimes committed by foreigners deserve that same attention. Accountability cannot be selective. Human rights apply to everyone, and so must the law. Let me be clear: beating someone to death is indefensible, and no crime justifies mob justice. But condemning mob violence must not become an excuse to avoid discussing crime, immigration enforcement and the failures that leave communities feeling unsafe. South Africans deserve safety, and foreigners who commit crimes must face the law. These positions are not contradictory. Do not use the death of one person to silence an entire country’s concerns. Report the killing, condemn the violence, and give the broader issue of crime the same seriousness. That is what fair and responsible journalism should look like.