Dear Mr Mc Kenzie (Part 1)
I hope this finds you well.
I am writing to you a second time (first was after you published the book about your life) because I am concerned about our country. I believe that you are the only politician that (1) may perhaps take me seriously, and (2) have the balls to drive the suggestion if it finds your approval.
The issues I am writing about are:
1. Infrastructural damage. The theft of cables, railway lines, substations, robots, fencing, et cetera and/or the damage to buildings, facilities, equipment and more
2. Public servant corruption, negligence and performance failures. To that should be added officials in positions who do not perform their duties such as diligent maintenance of state, municipal and related assets such as roads, water and electric infrastructure. This should even cover failures by the NPA and similar institutions.
In my view, traditional sabotage involves the destruction, damage, or obstruction of objects for political or military gain. I propose the creation of a new category of sabotage-related crime, one that falls under treason, even if it does not involve political or military. Our national infrastructure is being obliterated by criminals who do not have any political or military objectives, but they destroy the country and our economy. This type of crime transcends the typical perpetrator-victim dynamic; its impact extends far beyond the individual level, affecting citizens at local, regional, and national scales.
My other problem with sabotage is that it requires a deliberate act to qualify as such and therefore only relate to the directly affected object. However cable and similar thieves cause indirect damage to the country and the citizenry at large through reduced economic performance, loss of income, loss of perishables, etc. This is not deliberate, but eminently foreseeable and outside the scope of sabotage. A criminal who can reasonably foresee such consequences should also be held accountable for that. Currently the public cannot do so and it will be impractical to have thousands of people sue a criminal for food loss through cable theft. Another solution is required
The problem with sabotage is that it requires a deliberate act to qualify as such, meaning it is typically limited to the object directly affected. However, criminals such as cable thieves cause massive indirect harm to the country and its citizens through a variety of consequences, including reduced economic performance, loss of income, spoilage of perishables, and more. While these effects may not be deliberate, they are entirely foreseeable and fall outside the traditional scope of sabotage. Perpetrators should be held accountable for them. A new approach or solution is needed to address these broader implications of criminal acts.
Treason is normally seen as a wartime activity and effectively requires a person to owe allegiance to a country/state. That means it is hard to prove in peacetime and can probably not be readily applied to illegal residents, non-citizen residents, etc., as they do not necessarily owe allegiance to the country. Yet in terms of our Constitution, they enjoy virtually all the benefits of citizens when they perpetrate crimes that harm the country as a whole.
Treason typically requires an individual to owe allegiance to a country or state. This makes it difficult to prove and likely inapplicable to illegal residents, non-citizen residents. However, under our Constitution, these individuals enjoy nearly all the benefits of citizenship, even when they commit crimes that harm the nation as a whole. Citizens can equally probably not be charged with treason unless they wish to overthrow the government in peacetime if they only damage infrastructure even if it harms the wellbeing of the country.
Corruption, negligence, and performance failures among public servants pose an equally significant existential threat to our country. These actions undermine law and order, social stability, and racial harmony. Serious issues that could ultimately lead to the destruction of our nation over time.