Monograph 18: Crime in Johannesburg: Results of a City Victim Survey, Antoinette Louw, Mark Shaw, Lala Camerer and Rory Robertshaw

The control and prevention of crime have become national priorities in South Africa and particularly in the city of Johannesburg where some of the highest crime rates in the country are recorded. Much of the national crime debate has focused on the extent of crime in the city as reflected in recorded police statistics. By conducting a victimisation survey a measure of crime obtained through interviewing a representative sample of victims it is possible to formulate a clearer picture of the nature of victimisation in Johannesburg.

Johannesburg is popularly referred to as the country`s `crime capital` and `the most violent city in the world`. Few cities and indeed urban areas, however, are without crime, and the risk of becoming a victim is high for the residents of most large cities. But risks are higher in poorer parts of the world and particularly in countries in transition from authoritarian rule to democracy which are characterised by pronounced economic inequality, such as states in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe.1 Johannesburg`s notoriously high levels of violent armed robberies and burglaries fit this pattern. These are also crime types which heighten the fear of crime and receive wide media coverage. What is often overlooked is that a large proportion of these and other crimes happen not to the middle classes, but to the urban poor. The impact of crime on this sector of society, however, is less visible.

Of more immediate concern in the case of Johannesburg, is the fact that high levels of crime are driving people out of the metropolitan area and threatening business and investor confidence in the economic heart of the country. Within the city itself, the central business district (CBD) perceived as the most dangerous part of Johannesburg is facing decline as formal businesses leave for the relative safety of the suburbs and satellite CBDs.

Equally serious are the effects of crime on Johannesburg`s residents. Fear of crime is high as are feelings of insecurity. Combined with diminishing confidence in the government`s ability to protect its citizens, the city already divided by the legacy of apartheid`s boundaries is increasingly compartmentalised by high walls, fenced-off suburbs and private security guards, for those who can afford it. For those who cannot, options (where they exist) are limited to informal preventive measures and alternative forms of justice in the face of vulnerability to crime. The wedge driven by crime between the daily activities of the wealthy and the poor encourages alternative crime control strategies. These threaten to entrench already stark social and economic inequalities in South Africa.

Johannesburg`s crime problem has resulted in pressure from several quarters. The city is increasingly seen by the government and the police as the country`s test case for controlling and preventing urban crime: successes in South Africa`s `crime capital` will boost the confidence of both the public and the police in the attempt to reduce crime.

In the face of these pressures and with international support, the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council`s Safer Cities programme was initiated in March 1997. Facilitated by the local authority, the strategy aims to lead a range of focused crime prevention programmes involving partnerships between local government, the police, non-government organisations and community groups. The South African Police Service (SAPS) for its part (in September 1997) launched the second phase of Operation Urban Strike aimed at reducing serious crime in `hot spots` through proactive police operations in the Johannesburg area. At the outset, both projects have identified crime information as key to the success of their activities something which is in short supply despite the focus on crime in Johannesburg (and indeed the country as a whole).