The violent crime curse
VIOLENT crime continues to have a deadly grip on South Africa, with no end in sight.
Across class and racial divides, people live in fear of hijackings and house invasions and hope they will not be killed by the perpetrators.
Nowhere is safe. Even while at places of worship or mourning one’s loved ones at cemeteries and crematoria, people are vulnerable.
There are historical and contemporary structural reasons for this pandemic and, although we have good reason to be outraged by the abnormally high levels of violence, we must engage actively in finding ways of dealing with it.
This culture of violence is rooted in the repressive past where, as in city ghettos over the world, it flourished in townships in which people were confined on the basis of race, and crowded slums to which they were forcibly removed in apartheid’s social engineering. Much of the Cape Flats gangsterism. for example, is rooted in the break-up and relocation of cohesive District Six communities.
During that period, imprisonment for petty offences such as pass law infringements led many people to become hardened criminals through exposure to prison gang culture – and gangs continue their operations outside of prison.
The key factor in understanding why we are such a violent society lies in the devastating impact on black African family life of the migrant labour system, and the controls over urban migration which separated families. Violence against women and children knows no racial or class boundaries, but decades of research showed how much of the discrimination and violence inflicted on disempowered black men was displaced by them on to strong women they perceived as a further threat to their self-esteem.
Twenty-two years into democracy, the consequences of these historical realities are still with us as the structure of society has not changed significantly. The rural areas remain under-developed labour reservoirs for a shrinking labour force, whose members still migrate to urban areas where they live in poorly-maintained hostels or shack areas, often leaving their families in rural homes.
Nothing constructive has been done to mend family life, and our levels of abuse of women remain among the highest in the world.
Too many men continue to father children by different women they do not support, or rarely spend time with.
As a result, too many children grow up without decent male role-models, many of them in a family grouping in which violence is the norm.
If children grow up in a context of violence, they will perpetuate this in the schools, on the roads, in their protest action and in the crimes they commit.
To make matters worse, the historic abuse of alcohol remains a serious problem and the organised crime system rooted in apartheid flourishes, with many offenders engaging in crime to feed their drug addiction.
The democratic government inherited a police force that was brutal and corrupt, and it messed up badly in its attempts to transform it.
The “affirmative action” policy became a cloak for the promotion of incompetence and nepotism generally and, instead of striving to build a non-racial, professional service, it remains highly politicised, serving the interests of its new masters.
Although policing has deteriorated noticeably in the last seven years, many police officers do their jobs in a professional manner. The problem lies with management.
There has also been increased political interference in the justice system.
Political interests
Detective work standards have deteriorated, intelligence services serve primarily political interests, and crucial forensic services in KwaZuluNatal have been virtually destroyed by the Department of Health.
Is it any wonder we have a crime problem?
It is only by understanding the dynamics involved that we can all play a part in doing something about it.
Poverty in itself does not lead to the levels of violence we experience as the situation in many other countries, including in Africa, confirms.
However, poor and disempowered people may be easily recruited to serve criminal ends, hence the conspicuous role of black hijackers, who are fronts for crime syndicates.
It is essential to engage with and empower disadvantaged youngsters through, for example, involving them in activities such as sport, music, art and environmental work.
Assistance to pupils by those with language and numeracy skills, and encouraging access to libraries would be a valuable contribution.
Existing initiatives in these fields could be expanded if there were sufficient people with expertise prepared to give of their time voluntarily.
Similarly, groupings working with addicts need as much support as possible.
Ministers and others involved in faith-based organisations could provide important male role-models for those who lack nurturing fathers.
As the Department of Social Development is failing, NGO sector interventions to support and assist vulnerable women and children are crucial.
All should play a part in improving the criminal justice system by ensuring that crimes reported to the police are followed up on, and by supporting good police members and exposing the corrupt.
For example, where appropriate, have fingerprints been taken, or CCTV footage been retrieved timeously?
Demand feedback on cases opened and, if you do not get it, go to the station, unit or cluster commander, or higher and, if service remains poor, complain to parliamentary committees.
Community policing forums can play an important role, so ensure that committed people are elected to them.
Support and assist employees, who often face intimidation as well as high crime levels in townships with poor policing.
Accountability on the part of the police and of other state employees whose salaries are paid by taxpayers, is often nil.
We need a return to accountability and the more people who insist on it, the greater the chance of success.
Never employ the services of a private security company that is not registered with PSIRA. If you do, you are committing a crime.
Ensure that you monitor their service levels and switch providers if they fail you.
These are only some ideas about addressing violent crime and I challenge you all to share other initiatives that you will engage in.
There is no room for complacency – we should all get involved in ridding our society of this obscene scourge.