Monograph 58: Reducing Crime in Durban, A Victim Survey and Safer City Strategy, Rory Robertshaw, Antoinette Louw, Mark Shaw, Mduduzi

After extensive consultation both inside and outside of the council, the strategy was compiled by the Safer City Project co-ordinators with the help of the Independent Projects Trust (IPT). The strategy was officially adopted by the Unicity Committee on 11 October 2000 and implementation could therefore begin. The Durban Safer City Strategy 2000 has three strategic components, each complementing the other:

The strategy development process was preceded by a victim survey conducted by the Institute for Security Studies. The survey results supplemented the official police crime statistics and provided data on people’s experiences of crime, perceptions of safety and policing, and suggestions on how to make the city safer. The Durban victim survey was the third in a series of six city victim surveys undertaken by the ISS between 1997 and 2000. The ISS aimed to assist metropolitan and local government practitioners to develop crime reduction strategies.

In total, 1 884 people were interviewed in December 1997 across the Durban metropolitan area. Of these, 59% said that they had been a victim of at least one crime between 1993 and 1997. The risk of victimisation varied according to race, gender and age: women were more at risk than men; African and coloured residents were more likely to be victims than Asians and whites; and the youngest and oldest residents were more at risk than other age groups. Burglary followed by robbery were the two most prevalent crime types in the Durban metropolitan area.

A majority of victims said they reported the most recent incident of murder, car theft, hijacking, burglary and sexual offence to the police. Insurance coverage was not the main reason for reporting. The occurrence of violence and injuries, and whether or not a victim knew the offender also played a role. Levels of satisfaction with police service when reporting a crime were low: only 38% of victims said they were satisfied.

Victims tended to change their behaviour to reduce the chances of victimisation in future. With the exception of assault victims, most changed their behaviour after victimisation. Typically, African victims were less likely to adopt precautionary measures than white or Asian victims. This applied across all types of crime and could relate to the cost of improving security or changing lifestyle patterns. Those who rely on public transport cannot always change their routes or purchase a car to avoid victimisation. Although many victims did change their behaviour, on average, less than half of them said they felt safer as a result.

Victim support is a crucial part of helping people to deal with the impact of crime. The type of support that victims favoured the most was effective policing and emotional support. However, needs differed across race. African and white victims were most likely to request emotional support followed by better policing. More white victims wanted advice, information and counselling than other victims. Of concern was that less than a third of victims were familiar with any support services and less than a quarter had used such services. Victims of sexual offences were most likely to have heard of these services, to have used them, and to believe that they would be useful.

Based on perceptions of policing and other types of protection, the poor were disadvantaged in terms of their access to safety. The survey indicated that 21% of people had no protection for their homes at all. White (and wealthier) residents were much more likely to use physical security measures than African and coloured residents. For example, 63% of whites and 46% of Asians had high fences or walls compared to only 1% of Africans. Those most at risk of crime therefore had the least protection for their homes. Most whites (80%) and Asians (60%) said that they felt safer as a result of using these forms of protection. Coloured and African residents were less positive.

Perceptions of policing differed significantly across the metropolitan area. Just over half of all respondents thought the police were doing a poor job at controlling crime in Durban. White respondents and those living in the inner city were more likely to be satisfied than Asians, Africans and those living in informal settlements. The quality of policing appeared to be better in the wealthier parts of the city and those areas policed by the former Durban City Police such as the inner city area and surrounding (largely white) suburbs.

Despite the police’s positive rating by inner city residents, 53% of all Durban residents thought that the inner city was the most unsafe part of the metropolitan area. Coloured, white and Asian respondents were much more likely to hold this view than were Africans. Fear of crime in the inner city is no doubt based on a range of concerns, not all of which relate to crime or policing, such as congestion, overcrowding and litter. The risk of crime may also be unjustifiably associated with particular groups of people such as street children and street traders.

Feelings of safety varied according to where people lived. During the day, only 49% of those living in the inner city and 51% in informal settlements felt safe, compared to 78% of those in the suburbs. After dark, only 13% in informal settlements felt safe compared to 35% in the suburbs. Higher levels of fear in informal settlements are probably caused by the general lack of services and infrastructure. This increases the risk of victimisation in an environment already lacking in basic policing and other systems of protection and support.

The concept of ‘safety’ was clearly associated with policing and justice. Although the importance of job creation and development was recognised, most respondents thought that better policing and criminal justice would improve safety in the city. The majority (80%) said that the government should improve the provision of criminal justice, in particular, the police. White respondents were three and a half times more likely to call for harsher punishment than Africans. When asked what they could do to improve their own safety, the most common response among Africans and whites was ‘work with the police’. People’s willingness to work with the police and share responsibility for their own safety is encouraging.