GRIEVING GERMISTON FAMILY ADDRESSES APPEAL TO MANDELA ON CRIME

President Nelson Mandela is being lied to by his own officials
about crime levels in South Africa, a Germiston family torn apart
by violence said on Wednesday.

The Krog family, grieving for their son shot dead in an armed
robbery in February, on Tuesday addressed an open letter to Mandela
in the death column of The Star's classified section.

They enclosed the letter in a message of condolence to the
relatives of Jaco Roodt, a security guard who was shot dead in
another robbery last Friday.

The Krog letter opens: "Mr Mandela, you and your government
have publicly stated that you have the crime in our country under
control.

"We ask of you why a young man with a family and a future ahead
of him had to be taken so brutally on Friday, May 15 in Refinery
Road, Germiston.

"This is the second murder of an innocent man in the same area
within three months. Our son, brother, husband and father, Brandon
Krog, was also brutally murdered on Friday 13th February, a mere
500m from where Jaco was murdered this Friday.

"Words cannot console our anger and pain. Jaco's death has made
us feel like we have lost another family member and has brought
back all the pain and suffering, as it was on the day when Brandon
was gunned down in cold blood."

Brandon's brother, Mitchell Krog, on Wednesday told Sapa the
Krog family had opened a website on the Internet as part of a
campaign to get Mandela to take action against crime.

He accused government ministers of feeding misinformation to
the president.

"Hopefully our campaign will make Mandela aware. His ministers,
his MECs, his army, his police are telling him lies.

"They put onto Mandela's desk crime statistics that mean shit.
Then the president holds a press conference and says crime is on
the way down. We feel sorry for him because he is being lied to so
much.

"He actually does not know what is going on in this country. He
goes out with 100 bodyguards and is safe. But ordinary people are
subjected to crime every day.

"I have tried e-mailing him but there has been no response. But
he is a man and he reads newspapers and by doing this our hope is
to get something done about the crime," said Krog.

Presidential aide Parks Mankahlana said the government had
taken note of the letter.

"It is regrettable that this tragic incident has happened. The
president relies and has trust in the information that he gets from
his officials and the different security agencies.

"The president is convinced that police are doing all in their
power to bring the crime situation under control and all
indications are that as high as the crime rate is, we are making
progress in bringing it under control," he said.

Krog's brother was shot dead by four armed robbers as he
entered the family scrapyard business. It was the start of a
nightmare for the family.

"On February 19, on the way back from her son's funeral, my
mother was held up in her own driveway and a car was stolen.

"Jill, the daughter of the woman who drove my mom home from the
funeral, was caught up in an armed robbery a week after that. Then
my dad went to visit Brandon's widow, and within 10 minutes of
parking his car was broken into.

"Three weeks after that one of our employees, Mr Lithgow, was
hit over the head in a robbery. This is the experience of just one
family. In the street where my parents live their next-door
neighbour has been hijacked in his driveway. Ten houses down is a
man who has been hijacked three times."

Krog said their suburb, Dinwiddie, has been dubbed "hijack
city" by the local police.

"The international press does not hear about the crime. That's
why we are setting up a website. I don't give a stuff about what
happens to the tourist industry as a result," said Krog.

In their letter to Mandela, the Krog family states: "We demand
justice... these criminals... are befouling our beloved land and
ruining all hope of a future for this country."

The family website is www.allafrica.co.za/brandon