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South Africa's crime stats 'encouraging'

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10 September 2010

South African business, political parties and analysts have welcomed the country's improved crime statistics for 2009/10, while urging the government to step up its efforts to combat crime still further.

The national crime statistics, covering the year ending 31 March 2010, suggest that violent crime is on the decline in the country, with murder down by 8.6%, attempted murder down by 6.1% and sexual crimes down by 4.4%.

Street robberies were down by 10.4%, cash-in-transit heists by 7.3%, bank robberies by 8.8%, and truck and car hijackings by 6.8%.

House robberies 'deeply concerning'

Johan Burger, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies' crime and justice programme, said he was quite impressed by this year's statistics, which showed that police efforts were paying off.

"All in all, we can be grateful for the overall picture presented in these crime stats, although South Africans have every right to be dissatisfied with the generally high levels of crime in the country," Burger said.

He said the stats showed that the police still did not understand the problems well enought to deal with them effectively, adding that communities could help the police win the fight against crime.

He said he was "deeply concerned" about the rise in house robberies, saying it should receive serious attention. "One's home is the one place above all where you and your family should feel safe," he said.

He also suggested that the police should beef up their capacity, especially in forensics, investigators, flying squad units, specialised units and visibility.

Business 'cautiously optimistic'

The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) said they were pleased by the decrease, especially in the banking and cash-in-transit crimes, though these still remained a concern.

"We are cautiously optimistic that the continued efforts by the police to strengthen their partnerships with business and other sectors in the fight against crime will yield desired results," said Sabric CEO Kalyani Pillay.

Pillay said the banking and cash-in-transit industries would continue to work closely with the police in devising additional measures to ensure effective investigations and prosecutions as well as to support joint crime prevention initiatives.

Community involvement; special courts

Inkatha Freedom Party spokesperson Velaphi Ndlovu also welcomed the downward trend in major crimes, but said he was concerned by what seemed to be a steady upward trend in burglaries at homes and business premises.

"The increase in crimes such as residential and business burglaries, and the increase in crimes under the influence of drugs and alcohol, clearly need special attention from law enforcement agencies," Ndlovu said.

The AfriForum, meanwhile, appealed to communities to become involved in their local community safety structures in order to help prevent home robberies.

Spokesperson Nantes Kelder described the decreases in many crime types as a step in the right direction, but said the number of crime incidents were still at unacceptably high levels.

And the United Democratic Movement urged the government to continue with and intensify the implementation of special courts, as were used during the 2010 Fifa World Cup, saying this could be the first step in winning the war against crime in the country.

Source: BuaNews