Citizens confront crime and pay price
THE HIGH crime rate in the country has resulted in incidents where citizens have taken measures to defend themselves, only to end with bloody hands themselves.
In Soweto, a 41-year-old man was withdrawing money from an ATM one Friday afternoon. Three men tried to rob him.
He fought back, strangling one robber to death. His accomplices fled empty handed.
An inquest has been opened and the police will be investigating the matter further.
Last week, a father from Ennerdale appeared at the Lenasia Magistrate’s Court charged with the murder of his son.
Sibusiso Tshabalala told the court he had gone to Fred Norman High School to fetch his son, Luyanda Themba, who was attending extra lessons.
He said he fell asleep in the car and was awoken by a knock on the window. Thinking he was being hijacked, he took out his licensed firearm and shot once, killing Luyanda. Tshabalala buried his son over the weekend.
In October last year, a 56-year-old Eastern Cape mother found three men raping her daughter. She took a knife, stabbing one to death and injuring the other two.
The woman was charged with murder but was later acquitted.
These incidents question: Are normal citizens turning into criminals when they defend themselves or retaliate against crime?
The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) says there is a fine line between self-defence and retaliation or vigilantism.
According to the ISS, there are no statistics to show whether there is an increase in retaliations, vigilantism or self-defence, and it doesn’t know if there is an actual increase or simply a rise in media reporting of these cases.
However, the 2015 SAPS analysis of murder cases says it could establish a motive in 59% of the dockets. Almost 2% established the motive as self-defence.
The ISS’s Lizette Lancaster says the law is clear that citizens who are in imminent danger can defend themselves, and self-defence is seen as legally justified.
“The problem comes in when persons are not in immediate danger,” she says.
According to the most recent StatsSA victims of crime survey, there has been a decrease in overall crime levels in recent years, but the crimes we fear the most, such as armed robberies, including house robberies (these rose between 2015/16 and 2016/17) have been increasing over time.
“As a result, fear of crime remains high and is actually increasing over time. Satisfac- tion levels in the police and courts are also dropping. As a result, many turn to self-help groups or other measures to protect themselves,” Lancaster says.
The survey also says 65.5% of households in Gauteng reported having taken measures to protect their homes and 4.9% have taken measures to carry weapons.
“An explanation can be found in our constant levels of fear of crime and the perceptions that our police are incapable to come to terms with the high level of crime. Many feel that they are on their own and have to protect themselves,” Lancaster adds