Assaulted putting up posters
Police allegedly attack three Allied Movement members
CRAIG DODDS & ARTHI SANPATH
HOUSEHOLDS headed by whites and Indians, in general, were more likely to be affected by crime than other groups.
This is according to the latest survey by StatisticsSA, which undertook an analysis of crime statistics by population group in its Community Survey report for this year.
Crime was one of the key issues faced by South Africans, along with water supply, employment, cost of electricity and inadequate housing.
Whites and Indians, according to the report, had higher percentages of households which experienced housebreaking/ home robbery, robbery, and theft of motor vehicle/motorcycle.
Overall, the report said, all population groups, with the exception of black Africans, had percentages higher than the national average, in the 12 months preceding the survey.
About one in 10 households headed by whites experienced crime, followed by Indian/ Asians at 8.4 percent, while about 7.1 percent of black Africans were victimised.
Nationally, the top five challenges in municipalities, according to residents, were: the lack of a safe and reliable water supply; the lack of or inadequate employment opportunities; the cost of electricity; inadequate housing; and violence and crime, in that order.
But the prominence of these issues varied considerably by province, with concerns about a safe and reliable water supply not featuring at all for households in Gauteng and the Western Cape, while it was the number one concern in Limpopo (43.9 percent of respondents), North West (33.4 percent), Mpumalanga (30.6 percent), KwaZulu-Natal (23 percent), Eastern Cape (22.7 percent), Free State (20.8 percent) and Northern Cape (17.3 percent).
By contrast, the cost of electricity was the dominant concern of Gauteng (16.2 percent) and Western Cape (18.7 percent) residents, while not featuring among the top-five concerns in Free State and North West and concerning only 12.4 percent of residents in the Northern Cape, 12.1 percent in KwaZulu-Natal, 8.8 percent in the Eastern Cape, 7 percent in Mpumalanga and 4.7 percent in Limpopo.
Scarcity of jobs was a concern common to all provinces, on the other hand, featuring most strongly in KwaZulu-Natal (14.4 percent), Free State (13.8 percent), and Mpumalanga and Gauteng, both at 13.2 percent.
Improvement
Yet the Community Survey 2016 showed there has been continuous improvement in the quality of services and standards of living for all South Africans, despite the bleak economic performance and rising unemployment of the past few years.
For example, the number of households living in formal housing has increased steadily, from a low of 65.1 percent in 1996, through 77.6 percent in 2011, to 79.2 percent in the latest survey, conducted in March and sampling about 1.3 million households.
Rising affluence is also evident in the increase in the number of households owning their homes and having paid off the bond (54.7 percent in 2016, compared with 41.3 percent in 2001) and ownership of electronic goods like fridges (81.8 percent in 2016 compared with 68.4 percent in 2011), stoves (84.4 percent compared with 77 percent) and televisions (83.4 percent compared with 74.5 percent).
Strikingly, the survey suggests these new TV owners are also flocking to satellite, with 41.4 percent of households now owning a DStv decoder, compared with 25.8 percent in 2011.
Significant improvements are reflected in access to flushing toilets connected to sewerage, access to piped water, and use of electricity for cooking.
Education and highest level of education attained have improved significantly, despite questions about quality, with 17.2 million attending an educational institution this year, compared with 12.8m in 1996.
South Africans, the survey shows, are better off, better educated and better housed, yet water quality, lack of jobs and electricity costs continue to concern them most.
THE ALLIED Movement for Change party has alleged that police assaulted three members of the party this week.
Yesterday, chairman Roy Bhoola described the incident that took place on Tuesday evening outside Umzinto on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast as a “brutal assault”.
He said it was a racially and politically motivated assault against innocent victims.
He said his party was seeking legal advice and that “a case will be laid against the Minister of Police. He said the wounds inflicted in this attack were severe.
Party member Bheki Ngongoma said he and his colleague Zweli Mbhele and driver Akbar Khan were putting up posters when they stopped at an intersection.
Ngongoma said a traffic officer stopped and asked what they were doing, and then accused them of stealing telephone cable.
Ngongoma said within minutes up to eight black, white and Indian officers, including four from the dog unit, arrived.
“We explained we were putting up political posters, but they didn’t listen. They took Akbar and Zweli, handcuffed them and told them to lie on the ground.
“They then started kicking them and saying they must tell the truth,” said Ngongoma.
As he was fasting for Ramadaan at the time, Khan pleaded for mercy.
Mbhele said the officers allegedly “slammed his and Khan’s heads together three times” before Ngongoma was pushed on top of them. “They asked us if we had taken down DA posters and told me I must be an ANC member.
“I asked them why didn’t they just arrest us, we are not back in 1993 when police would abuse people. They told us to f*** off,” said Ngongoma.
The men were taken to the Scottburgh police station where they spent the next two nights before they appeared in the Scottburgh Magistrate’s Court on Thursday morning. They were released on bail.
Investigation
The lawyer for the men, Agit Ramsar, confirmed they had appeared in court but that the case had been remanded until mid-July for further investigation and while charges were linked to the electoral act, they had not yet been clarified.
Khan was taken to hospital after being released from the police station and yesterday said he had undergone X-rays to his spine and would be seeing an orthopaedic specialist.
After Khan’s release, Bhoola said, “I can only assume this is a racially and politically motivated attack. On what other basis can one explain the barbaric attacks by people sworn to serve us ?”
SAPS KZN media spokeswoman Captain Nqobile Gwala said “the allegations of assault were already before court”. She said no reports of assault had been received. “They are advised to open a case for investigation.”
She added that in a separate incident on Thursday, a 37-year-old Umzinto woman had been arrested for an election related offence with regard to removing posters after allegedly being found in possession of a DA poster.
“The prosecutor declined to prosecute the matter,” added Gwala.
The DA was asked for comment but had not responded by time of going to press.