Fosa: Government Inaction Is Fuelling Lawlessness and Pushing Communities to the Edge
Tebogo Mashilompane
National Leader of Forum for South Africa
By Tebogo Mashilompane
National Leader of Forum for South Africa
The Forum for South Africa (FOSA) delivers a strong and uncompromising warning: South Africa is rapidly descending into lawlessness, and government’s continued failure to act decisively is directly enabling this crisis.
Communities across the country are under siege from criminal networks involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking, building hijackings, and the kidnapping of children.
These are not isolated incidents — this is a pattern of systemic collapse.
South Africans are living in fear while criminals operate with growing confidence.
This is not just failure it is negligence.
FOSA holds government accountable for:
Weak and ineffective law enforcement
Failed border control systems
A lack of urgency in confronting organised crime
Allowing criminal strongholds to flourish in our cities
This environment has allowed illegal activities to expand unchecked, with organised syndicates exploiting gaps in enforcement and governance.
At the same time, FOSA strongly condemns the dangerous tendency to silence South Africans when they speak out.
Communities who demand safety and enforcement are too often labelled as xenophobic, as if raising legitimate concerns about crime is a crime in itself.
We reject this narrative entirely.
Demanding law and order is not xenophobia. It is a basic right.
FOSA will not allow the legitimate frustrations of South Africans to be dismissed while crime continues to destroy lives.
However, we remain firm that the fight against crime must target criminals not innocent people and must always remain within the rule of law.
The truth is simple:
Government has lost control of critical aspects of law enforcement and communities are paying the price.
FOSA demands immediate and decisive action:
Full enforcement of immigration laws and strengthened border security
Aggressive, intelligence-led crackdowns on organised crime syndicates
Immediate reclamation of hijacked buildings and illegal strongholds
Mass-scale anti-trafficking operations to protect children
Accountability for officials who fail to act or who are complicit
If government continues on this path of inaction, it will bear full responsibility for the social and security consequences that follow.
South Africans are running out of patience.
FOSA stands with communities demanding real action, real protection, and real leadership.
Enough is enough. Act now.