Crime is a prominent issue in South Africa. South Africa has a very high rate of murders, assaults, rapes (adult, child and infant), and other crimes compared to most countries. Most emigrants from South Africa state that crime was a big factor in their decision to leave. The South African Police Services is responsible for managing 1115 police stations across South Africa. South Africa's high walls, electric fences and lurid headlines are all part of the country's obsession with violent crime. But the release of national crime statistics is an annual ritual that sparks anxiety like little else.
The ISS, a South African think tank, said the figures were presented in a "vague" manner, making analysis difficult. Only the percentage change was provided, without the raw figures. Gareth Newham, a crime analyst with the institute, said the rates had stabilized at high levels in the last four years, despite tens of thousands of additional police officers on the streets.
"Serious and violent crime is increasing in South Africa. This shows that government's approach to crime is not working," Newham said in a statement. "Violence remains unacceptably high and should be treated as a serious crisis that stands in the way of South Africa's social and economic development." National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega denied that crime was out of control, pointing to a gradual reduction in reported incidents since 2003. "There is no doubt that the crime situation is under control," she said. Newham said most violent crimes occur between individuals who know each other, in their houses or out of public view, making them difficult to police.
While the police cannot be expected to prevent violent, interpersonal crimes, good policing can lead to a reduction in most kinds of robbery. In one interview Newham said. "Increases in these crimes suggest that the police are struggling to effectively identify and apprehend the relatively small number of people who commit these crimes." Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, who released the statistics, claimed the government would redouble its efforts to reduce crime.
The people of South Africa will have to work double hard to ensure this slight increase is rerouted to the downward trends that we experienced over the past nine years.
The level of rape and other sexual violence was highly unacceptable, although sexual offenses were down 0.4%. South African police have been under fire in recent months because of the high number of officer-involved killings, assaults on suspects and other offenses.
The commission is now looking into the police killing of 34 striking miners at a platinum mine last year said it had obtained documents indicating that the police version of events was "in material respects not the truth. Police officers say they acted in self-defense and had no choice but to open fire when the miners charged their position. The commission accused the officers of falsifying documents related to the incident and concealing others. The inquiry continues.
The ISS, a South African think tank, said the figures were presented in a "vague" manner, making analysis difficult. Only the percentage change was provided, without the raw figures. Gareth Newham, a crime analyst with the institute, said the rates had stabilized at high levels in the last four years, despite tens of thousands of additional police officers on the streets.
"Serious and violent crime is increasing in South Africa. This shows that government's approach to crime is not working," Newham said in a statement. "Violence remains unacceptably high and should be treated as a serious crisis that stands in the way of South Africa's social and economic development." National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega denied that crime was out of control, pointing to a gradual reduction in reported incidents since 2003. "There is no doubt that the crime situation is under control," she said. Newham said most violent crimes occur between individuals who know each other, in their houses or out of public view, making them difficult to police.
While the police cannot be expected to prevent violent, interpersonal crimes, good policing can lead to a reduction in most kinds of robbery. In one interview Newham said. "Increases in these crimes suggest that the police are struggling to effectively identify and apprehend the relatively small number of people who commit these crimes." Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, who released the statistics, claimed the government would redouble its efforts to reduce crime.
The people of South Africa will have to work double hard to ensure this slight increase is rerouted to the downward trends that we experienced over the past nine years.
The level of rape and other sexual violence was highly unacceptable, although sexual offenses were down 0.4%. South African police have been under fire in recent months because of the high number of officer-involved killings, assaults on suspects and other offenses.
The commission is now looking into the police killing of 34 striking miners at a platinum mine last year said it had obtained documents indicating that the police version of events was "in material respects not the truth. Police officers say they acted in self-defense and had no choice but to open fire when the miners charged their position. The commission accused the officers of falsifying documents related to the incident and concealing others. The inquiry continues.
The government has been criticized for doing too little to stop crime. Provincial legislators have stated that a lack of sufficient equipment has resulted in an ineffective and demoralised South African Police Services. The Government was subject to particular criticism at the time of the Minister of Safety and Security visit to Burundi, for the purpose of promoting peace and democracy, at a time of heightened crime in Gauteng.
This spate included the murder of a significant number of people, including members of the South African Police Service, killed while on duty. The criticism was followed by a ministerial announcement that the government would focus its efforts on mitigating the causes for the increase in crime by 30 December 2006. In one province alone, nineteen police officers lost their lives in the first seven months of 2006.
The government has employed a widely publicised gun amnesty program to reduce the number of weapons in circulation. In 1996, the government adopted the National Crime Prevention Strategy, which aimed to prevent crime through reinforcing community structures and assisting individuals to get back into work.
A previous Minister of Safety and Security, Charles Nqakula, evoked public outcry among South Africans in June 2006 when he responded to opposition MPs in parliament who were not satisfied that enough was being done to counter crime, suggesting that MPs who complain about the country's crime rate should stop complaining and leave the country.
This spate included the murder of a significant number of people, including members of the South African Police Service, killed while on duty. The criticism was followed by a ministerial announcement that the government would focus its efforts on mitigating the causes for the increase in crime by 30 December 2006. In one province alone, nineteen police officers lost their lives in the first seven months of 2006.
The government has employed a widely publicised gun amnesty program to reduce the number of weapons in circulation. In 1996, the government adopted the National Crime Prevention Strategy, which aimed to prevent crime through reinforcing community structures and assisting individuals to get back into work.
A previous Minister of Safety and Security, Charles Nqakula, evoked public outcry among South Africans in June 2006 when he responded to opposition MPs in parliament who were not satisfied that enough was being done to counter crime, suggesting that MPs who complain about the country's crime rate should stop complaining and leave the country.
Causes Of Crime:
In February 2007, the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation was contracted by the South African government to carry out a study on the nature of crime in South Africa. The study concluded that the country is exposed to high levels of violence as a result of different factors, including Why South Africa is so violent and what the government should be doing about it. Just some of the few reasoning’s that the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, were a vast array of ideas. The normalization of violence, comes to be seen as a necessary and justified means of resolving conflict, and males believe that coercive sexual behavior against women is legitimate. The reliance on a criminal justice system is mired in many issues, including inefficiency and corruption. A subculture of violence and criminality, ranging from individual criminals who rape or rob to informal groups or more formalized gangs. Those involved in the subculture are engaged in criminal careers and commonly use firearms, with the exception of Cape Town where knife violence is more prevalent. Credibility within this subculture is related to the readiness to resort to extreme violence. The vulnerability of young people linked to inadequate child rearing and poor youth socialization. As a result of poverty, unstable living arrangements and being brought up with inconsistent and uncaring parenting, some South African children are exposed to risk factors which enhance the chances that they will become involved in criminality and violence. The higher levels of inequality, poverty, unemployment, social exclusion and marginalization are some of the larger issues to be put at blame for the crime rates. Violent Crime Categories: A survey for the period 1998–2000 compiled by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime ranked South Africa second for assault and murder per capita and first for rapes per capita in a data set of 60 countries. Total crime per capita was 10th out of the 60 countries in the dataset. The United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute have also conducted research on the victims of crime which shows the picture of South African crime as more typical of a developing country. |
Murder:
Around 50 people are murdered in South Africa each day. The murder rate has increased by an order of magnitude in South Africa during the last 40 years, though it has fallen from 66.9 per 100,000 people in 1994–95 to 37.3 in 2008–09. From 2003–2009, crime decreased significantly according to official police data. Between 1994 and 2009, the murder rate reduced by 50% to 34 murders per 100,000 people. The annual crime statistics released in 2011 show a continuing downward trend, except for rape, which went up by 2.1%. Business Against Crime attributed the reduction to improvements in the criminal justice system and policing. There have been numerous press reports on the manipulation of crime statistics that have highlighted the existence of incentives not to record violent crime. Nonetheless, murder statistics are considered accurate. Rape: The country has one of the highest rates of rape in the world, with some 65,000 rapes and other sexual assaults reported for the year ending in March 2012, or 127.6 per 100,000 people in the country. The incidence of rape has led to the country being referred to as the "rape capital of the world". One in three of the 4,000 women questioned by the Community of Information, Empowerment and Transparency said they had been raped in the past year. More than 25 per cent of South African men questioned in a survey published by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in June 2009 admitted to rape; of those, nearly half said they had raped more than one person. Three out of four of those who had admitted rape indicated that they had attacked for the first time during their teens. South Africa has amongst the highest incidences of child and baby rape in the world. If the rapist were convicted, his prison time would be around 2 years. Car hijackings: South Africa also has a high record of car hijackings when compared with industrialised countries. A South African insurance company, Hollard Insurance , stated in 2007 that they would no longer insure Volkswagen Golfs manufactured in the previous two years as they were one of the most frequently hijacked vehicles in South Africa. Certain high-risk areas are marked with road signs indicating a high incidence of car hi jacking’s within the locality. |