Comparing south africa to almost any other country is a bit of a trap I think, there's really no equality between races over there, even today.

Now, as for Texas letting people off, that's down to sloppy police work. Not a whole heap of point saying the death penalty doesn't work because a bunch of cops couldn't do their fucking job. That means the judicial and police process is screwed up, not the penalty.

The penalty clearly works. How it is dished out is important.