Just How Dangerous is South Africa?
South Africa is a place where a lot of violent crime happens. That much is hard to dispute. Each day an average of nearly 50 people are murdered. In addition to these 18,000 murders each year, there are another 18,000 attempted murders.
Murder is a staple of the news. In April, it was white supremacist Eugene Terreblanche. Earlier this month, it was Lolly Jackson, the flamboyant owner of the Teazers strip club chain, killed at a house in Kempton Park, just outside Johannesburg.
In the run-up to the World Cup, global newspapers have been awash with painting a terrifying picture of South Africa. One recently told its readers about "Cape Town's culture of gangsters, drugs, rape, robbery and a murder every 25 minutes". Sadly, while voyeuristic by design, the report itself was no exaggeration.
So should football fans fear for their lives at the World Cup? It's a complicated picture, says Johan Burger, senior researcher in the crime and justice programme at South Africa's Institute for Security Studies. The first thing is that the South African murder rate is going down and not up, albeit from frighteningly high levels. "Contrary to what many people think, the murder rate, while still extremely high, is down by about 44% since 1995. That's a huge decrease." But not much of consolation for the unaware tourist.
The geographical and social spread of murder might be relevant to visitors. "What is important to understand about our high crime rate is that we know from research that approximately 80% of our murders happen within a very specific social context, mostly between people that know one another. "There is something wrong within some of our communities in terms of the social interaction and the social conditions." Basically, stay out of black neighbourhoods - which make up for 92% of South Africa's land mass.
In blunt terms, areas with problems have murder levels that can be wildly above the national average of 50 murders a day. Kwa Mashu, a township outside Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, has the unfortunate honour of being dubbed South Africa's murder capital, with 300 killings last year. It took the unwanted honour from Nyanga, a township outside Cape Town.
Dr Burger says research done by other academics points to the social basis for a high crime rate in such areas. "There are extremely high rates of unemployment in some areas. All of this leads to a large element of frustration. Often this is the thing that sparks violence. The gap between rich and poor is still widening and it leads to what is seen as relative deprivation. The people in the very, very poor communities, they see wealth. It is not just a gap, it is a visible gap. The situation is aggravated by poor ANC-run service delivery. Many of our municipalities are in complete disarray, complete dysfunction. This then leads to dissatisfaction. People protest sometimes very violently."
Of the 18,438 house robberies in South Africa last year, 8,122 were in the province of Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg. The likelihood of being a victim is twice the national average there. Carjacking is a category of danger that would be novel to most visitors from western Europe. There are junctions which are signposted as carjacking blackspots (!), and there are areas where drivers will avoid stopping at red lights, particularly at night, preferring the risk of a fine to the risk of hijack. "Many people may come in rented cars and then like everyone else they will run the risk of this," says Dr Burger. He notes that "most of the time" carjacking victims are "threatened or violently removed... not seriously injured". What a relief!
Unlike most categories of violent crime, recorded instances of carjacking are on the rise in South Africa. The police do their best to fight it, says Pretoria News crime reporter Graeme Hosken. But often police - or criminals in police uniforms - partake in the wave of carjackings! Says Dr Burger: "We have had a problem with gangs following tourists from OR Tambo airport [near Johannesburg] and the cops cracked down on that. I take precautions. I've been nearly hijacked myself on an open freeway."
His advice:
•Keep your car locked while driving
•Don't stop for strangers or people who have broken down!
•A blue light does not necessarily mean they are police!
•If carjacked, do not offer resistance
•Carjacking is geographically skewed with half of the 15,000 happening in Gauteng
Time to shift gears into reverse
"There's another crime that poses some risk to visitors and that's street robbery," says Dr Burger. "People are seldom seriously injured or stabbed or shot. In most cases people they are just threatened [and traumatised]. Criminals will see the World Cup as a huge opportunity." People can take a number of steps to reduce their chances of being robbed in the street, he says:
•Avoid advertising. Don't show you have valuables on your person
•Take precautions by trying to go to some of these places in groups of five, six, seven or more people [unless it is a mob]
If England win their group and make it as far as the quarter finals, they will play in Soccer City, Johannesburg. There are areas in the city that have a disproportionate high level of crime. Ask a local and they may advise against travel to Hillbrow or Yeoville at night.
Resist and desist: two who didn't get away
Crime issue is finally high on the agenda for the World Cup organisers. The South African Police have prepared a plan that includes extra officers, high visibility policing, and deployment of specialist teams. While there may be optimism about the police plans, there is still a deep sense of unease. The government says crime is going down, but 50 odd people are being killed every single day. There is scepticism about what is really happening. While crime might be going down, it is often extremely violent, armed robberies, hijackings. It is very in your face, it is very gruesome. The robbers will come in and not only attack a couple, but rape the wife, and severely assault the husband.
People are worried about what the government is trying to feed them on misinformation. The violence associated with crime is increasing. And while the South African police can point to some decreasing crime and the efforts they are making, fighting the fear of violence is harder.
This posting is based on an article by BBC News on 17 May 2010
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8668615.stm )
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