Dear Premier David Makhura, I write this letter on behalf of the Johannesburg residents who have been killed, robbed and traumatised. Black or white, old or young, no one is spared.The level of crime is such that a state of emergency should be declared.People are virtual prisoners in their homes and load-shedding has made homes more vulnerable.But even during the day we are not safe. Criminals are prepared to attack at any time, anywhere.Police officers and private security personnel are killed.Police lose their firearms or have them stolen.Criminals give bribes and cops take them.Residents form community policing forums, but there is a limit to what these can achieve.It is clear that the situation is beyond the capacity of the Gauteng SAPS. T he support of the SA National Defence Force is needed.I am not writing this letter to berate the police. There are officers who die doing their duty. I rather want to point out just how bad the situation is. We need to develop a police force that is well-resourced and corruption-free.We have become a ghetto society.It is time for you, our premier, to get serious about the crime in Gauteng and immediately deploy the army to our streets to help fight this war on crime.Have the military guard Gauteng residents, schools, government buildings, malls and banks.If public order is to prevail, if democracy is to prevail, we must accept that we have become a failed province in terms of combating crime and protecting the rights and dignity of residents and citizens.Premier, we beg that the SANDF be deployed in Johannesburg before another child is stripped of a parent, or a parent is stripped of a child.May God help our leaders respond to our pleas and protect us while we wait for them to convert our request into a solid plan of action.We must stop the dying...