ISS Seminar Report: Crime and Security Threats in South Africa 2012

Date: 2012-10-18

Venue: , ISS Conference Room, Block C, Brooklyn Court, 361 Veale Street, New Muckleneuk, Pretoria, Parking in Lange Street outside Anton van Wouw Primary School

What the police and the National Victims of Crime Survey statistics reveal and what they don’t.

Speakers:

• Dr Johan Burger – Senior Researcher, Crime and Justice Programme (CJP), ISS
• Joseph Lukwareni – Specialist Statistician, Social Statistics, Statistics South Africa
• Gareth Newham – Head, CJP, ISS

Chair: Dr Hamadziripi Tamukamoyo (CJP)

The purpose of this seminar was for speakers to give a considered analysis of the statistics released by the South African Police Service (SAPS) and National Victims of Crime Survey (NVCS) and highlight the nuances that are not immediately apparent. Some of the speakers also highlighted key security trends and emerging threats not presented in the statistics. Further, the speakers provided insight as to what is being done to improve the statistics and what further needs to happen for this information to be of better use to those interested in understanding and responding to emerging crime and security challenges

Dr Johan Burger’s presentation, titled ‘South Africa’s Crime and Security Profile’, laid the foundations of the seminar by outlining some key indicators of crime and security in the country. Burger then zeroed in on the trajectory taken by the trio crimes (car hijacking, business robbery and house robbery) between 2002/03 and 2011/12, noting the decline in car hijacking over the past few years and the slight decline in house robberies from the last financial year. Of concern is the increase in business robberies, particularly those involving small businesses, given that more than half of all working South Africans depend on these businesses for employment. Burger also noted that the increase in public service protests pointed to underlying tensions in terms of the delivery of essential services. He further noted that one of the gaps in the statistics was that they did not provide a detailed view of the service delivery protests (rebellion of the poor and municipal revolts) that have been on the increase in the past few years. According to Burger, the instability in the country has the potential to further worsen the economic situation.

In his presentation Joseph Lukwareni considered the 2011 National Victims of Crime Survey. He outlined the sampling used in the survey and the limitations of the methodology used; and gave the audience a sense of the survey’s results. Lukwareni noted that a good number of the respondents felt safe when they walked alone in their neighbourhoods during the day but the number decreased considerably when it came to perceptions of safety at night. The sense among respondents was that house breaking was the most feared and common crime and that it affected feelings of safety. Lukwareni noted that there were plans to have the survey done on a yearly basis and for Stats SA to conduct a survey on corruption and crimes perpetrated against children.

Gareth Newham, in his presentation titled ‘Crime, Corruption and the Public Good’, gave the audience a sense of the trajectory of crimes such as murder and attempted murder, which have declined significantly between 1994/95 and 2011/12. For instance, murder has gone down by 54% since 1994. Newham noted with concern that there was a range of crimes such as vigilante violence, farm attacks, political assassinations, gang violence and xenophobic violence that was absent from the crime statistics. He then turned to the issue of corruption in South Africa, indicating that the country has fallen 10 places to 64 in 2012 on the Transparency International corruption index; this is the lowest ranking for the country since 1997, when the ranking began. As a result of corruption the country loses billions of dollars that could be invested in education and health. Newham also noted that there was a wide perception among the people of South Africa that corruption was on the rise in the country. What is worrying, as noted by Newham, is the lack of political will to tackle corruption, as evidenced by problematic senior level appointments in the criminal justice system; lack of action against the political elite in cases of corruption; and interference in institutions that are supposed to strengthen the country’s constitutional democracy, such as the Public Protector’s office and the Special Investigation Unit. He concluded by referring to some of the recommendations in the National Development Plan of the National Planning Commission, which indicate the need for strengthening the multi-agency anti-corruption system; protection from political interference; sufficient resources and expertise to fight corruption; strengthening whistle-blower protection; the awarding of large tenders to be centralised in a single agency and; corrupt officials to be held personally accountable for their actions.

All presentations from this seminar and more detailed information and analysis on the topics presented can be found on the Crime Hub at www.issarfrica.org/crimehub