SA crime problem 'too complex'

2006-08-01 11:59

Johannesburg - Statistically a South African is 12 times as likely to be murdered than the average American and his chances of being killed are 50 times greater than if he lived in Western Europe. In countries not at war, only a Colombian has a greater chance of dying in a hail of gunfire.

"This in an extraordinarily violent society and nobody understands it," said Peter Gastrow, a crime analyst with the Institute for Security Studies in Cape Town.

"The reasons seem to be unbelievably complex. There is no explanation that makes sense. The million dollar question is, `Why?' If we could understand that we could start to fix it. But we can't. All we can do now is ask religious people to pray for us," said Gastrow.

Progress on crime

The government contends it has made progress on crime, reducing some categories and levelling off others. Still, after highly-publicised incidents of recent weeks, the government has promised a much tougher stance, saying police will be much more aggressive.

Indeed, Gastrow said the most recent available figures from 2005 indicate some improvement. But he said studies show the levels of anxiety about crime now are higher than they were in the 1990s when violent crime was at its peak. People don't trust the government figures. There is also an accumulation of fear from years of horrendous crime, said Gastrow.

South Africans, especially white South Africans, are among the best armed private citizens on earth.

There are approximately 4.5 million registered firearms in South Africa, including more than 2.8 million handguns. The government estimates there are between 500 000 and a million unregistered firearms. Tens of thousands of the weapons are reported stolen each year.

Gun Free South Africa, a private gun-control advocacy group, says more people are shot and killed in South Africa than die in car accidents.

Gastrow said the government efforts to step up gun control and clear the streets of tens of thousands of illegal firearms have been haphazard and ineffective.

Shaun Dennison, the owner of a small hotel and a police reservist, said robbers often just shoot someone during a robbery so that the first phone calls after they leave are for medical help rather than police.

Police officers concerned

Several years ago, a robber held a gun to Dennison's head during a robbery at a used furniture store and pulled the trigger twice. Both times, he said, the gun misfired. So the robber pistol whipped him and than ran with his five accomplices. Dennison pursued.

"We were just standing in the middle of the street shooting at each other. We keep shooting at each other until I killed one of them and the others tried to run away," he said.

Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula didn't help the government's public relations effort when he recently suggested that people who whine about crime should just leave the country.

Rank and file police officers, concerned that 54 police officers have been killed already this year in South Africa recently demonstrated demanding better protection, more powerful weapons, and increased training to cope with organised, professional and better armed criminals.

- AP