A life unfulfilled

Were you shocked when you heard Oscar Pistorius had killed his girlfriend?

And when you heard the chief investigator in the case had been removed from the case because he was facing murder charges? Me too.

But I’ll bet South Africans weren’t. It turns out violence is epidemic in the country and there’s a yawning gap between the haves and have-nots, clearly drawn along racial lines.

South Africa ranks sixth in the world for total gun homicides. Fifty percent of South African households report they’ve been burglarized. The province where Pistorius lives has seen residential robberies increase 88 percent in the past five years. Since the end of Apartheid, incomes for white South Africans are up 40 percent. For those of mixed race, incomes are up 35 percent. For blacks, down about 2 percent. The whole sad story is in “Time” this week.

The life unfulfilled? Nelson Mandela’s. I’m sure this is not the future he saw for his country when he was released from the prison on Robben Island.