I know this thread is old but I just felt like giving my opinion Ok. So I have read most of this thread and it’s actually shocking. Not the Andre Gouws part but the part where most of you say things without thinking clearly about what you are actually saying. Now yes I do know Mr Gouws in person. Or well use to long ago. Out of personal experience I know for a fact that he is rather misguided in some of his ways. The fact that he got into his car under the influence was a mistake. A choice he made yes. He made the choice of wearing the shirt he had on. Maybe he wasn’t thinking when he did that or who knows. The meaning of the shirt “cleverly disguised as a responsible person” actually implies that the person wearing it is still a child. Which Mr Gouws is to some extent. Regardless of his age Should he have known better, Yes Should he learn a lesson and pay for his mistakes. Yes But the thing is. How he pays for his mistakes is not for any of us to decide. He is misguided in his ways. They want to charge him with murder. Now the problem with that is that it was not pre-meditated or even a choice. If he made the choice to run over a cyclist then yes throw him in jail or even bring the death penalty back but I doubt he made that choice. Now a lot of people on this thread say and wish that he dies or gets sodomized repeatedly in jail etc. How does that make you different? It actually makes you worse in some ways. Andre did not make the choice to kill someone. Some of you actually willingly choose to wish death upon him. You want physical and emotional harm to be caused to a person that made bad choices. Understandable to some extent but how does that make you better than him or anyone? Out of anger people say and do all kinds of things that are irrational and stupid. Out of fear people take similar actions and make similar choices. Out of stupidity the same. I can go on and on about this but the truth is None of you know what the emotional state of Andre was when all of this happened. All we know is he was under the influence. Probably passed out at a braai or party or something. Woke up early still intoxicated and then wanted to drive home. He then, still under the influence and half asleep, crashed into a cyclist and killed him. Out of fear he then drove off. Etc etc. My point here is not to make his actions right or take blame away from him. The point im trying to make is that he made one big mistake and that was getting into his car. Everything after that was not a choice he made with 100% clarity. He made bad choices in an already bad situation. Does this mean he is a monster or that he has to die because of it? I don’t know but I don’t think so. He is responsible for what happened yes. He chose to drive that car. And thats the only crime he really commited. Driving under the influence. Everything after that was an accident and misguided thinking from a person who wasn’t fully awake and wasn’t sober and then had emotions of fear and shock added onto that as the accident happened. Andre has to pay for his crimes. Crimes of fleeing the scene and driving under the influence. He made a mistake and made bad choices which lead to someone losing their life. I personally do not think he murdered someone. Yes someone died because of his actions but it was a mistake. I do feel that he has to pay for his actions somehow. Be it jail time or whatever else. The hate and sarcasm on this thread is understandable. But by reading what a lot of you say I feel that a lot of you aren’t any better than Mr Gouws. This thread shows how easy it is to make bad decisions. I guess me posting this is my bad decision Now the topic of this thread is Opinions and suggestions... The legal age of drinking should be raised to 21. Problem is the government won’t like this because they lose money. The tax on cigarettes and alcohol is ridiculous. Cycling should be limited to specific areas and times only. Problem is some people actually use their cycles for transport. And yes I know it’s silly of me to say this on a forum filled with cyclist but the attitude of cyclists on the road is frustrating. Parks should be put up for cyclist where no cars are allowed. Problem is how do you get there with your bike in the first place. Bike Lanes? Who wants to pay more taxes towards the government for that? Doesn’t matter how you try and solve this problem there is always something that will stand against it. Drunk driving is a huge issue in south Africa. Bad driving too. People have no respect for the laws on the road anymore. Be it people who drive cars or bikes or whatever. Things are getting worse in this country and the only way things will get better is if everyone can just take a step back, re-examine the situation or look at the bigger picture and ask yourself, How is what you are doing now making a difference? My condolences to the victims family I hope and pray Andre makes a change to himself and learns from his mistakes.
