SA: Lack of equality

2007-09-21 19:05

Johannesburg - The lack of a sense of shared identity among South Africa's various cultural groups was cited by the country's Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula on Friday as a barrier to fighting high crime levels.

Citing the example of the patriotism shown by Irish fans during rugby games and by American citizens with regard to the realisation of the "American dream," Nqakula said: "We need this in South Africa as well."

In a more unified Rainbow Nation there would be a shared consensus across racial groups on how to tackle key issues such as HIV/Aids and crime, the minister said.

Thirteen years after democracy South Africa is still a very unequal society with most of the wealth still concentrated in the hands of the white minority. That inequality - and the attempts to redress it through often flawed positive discrimination schemes - are the subject of some resentment on both sides of the black-white divide.

52 South Africans murdered daily

"There should be national consensus around organised action by all citizens," he said. "That national consensus is South Africanness."

Nqakula was speaking to a business audience in Johannesburg about how he planned to bring down some of the world's highest crime levels.

About 52 people are murdered in South Africa every day and 144 rape cases are reported. Figures to March showed that despite heavy government spending on extra police several categories of violent crime are on the rise.

The minister emphasised the need for stronger community policing to boost crime prevention, including police officers rooted in the communities they were mandated to protect.

The police would also get a leg-up from the addition of up to 100 000 police reservists, recruited to serve within their own communities, he said.

Nqakula's call for a unified response by all South Africans to crime marks a more conciliatory approach by the government to crime victims, who were outraged when he told them last year to quit "whingeing" about crime or leave the country. - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA