‘We see people die every day’
● For women in Inanda, the country’s rape capital for the past three years, fear is a way of life.
Crime statistics released on Friday show that the township north of Durban recorded 297 rapes between April last year and March. It also recorded SA’s third-highest murder toll: 231.
One 49-year-old woman living in Amaoti informal settlement, Inanda’s rape and murder hotspot, said the latest crime statistics might be frightening, but to her it’s just life. “This is normal for us, we live here. We see people die every day.”
While police minister Bheki Cele blamed booze and the high concentration of taverns in the area for the violence, residents say the local police, who operate from a satellite station surrounded by taverns, act more like security guards.
One woman complained about the way Amaoti police had handled her report of domestic violence by her partner.
“I filed for a protection order. Afterwards the police drove me home, dropped me off and told me to reconcile with my partner. How can I reconcile with someone who has beaten me?”
Resident Vuyo Ngema, 52, said most rape cases he’d heard of in Inanda involved children.
“People walking home from work, stores and shebeens — no-one is safe. I’ve lived here since 1992 and back then things were never this bad,” he said.
“Criminals have no fear, they will kick in your door and rob you in your own home. You are lucky if you are not killed.”
Inanda community policing forum (CPF) chair Bono Ntshangase said there had been a drastic drop in serious crimes during the lockdown, because all the taverns were closed.
“The biggest challenge we face is the number of taverns here. Take away the taverns and Inanda will no longer be the rape capital. That I can guarantee you.”
A high-ranking police officer in the area said the Inanda police station was understaffed.
“We have too many informal settlements popping up all over the place. The population is literally increasing every day and yet the police complement is the same,” he said.
Meanwhile, Nyanga, Cape Town, which was SA’s murder capital for years, has dropped to fifth place. Neighbouring Delft replaced it at the top with 265 murders.
With 185 murders in the year ended March — down from 289 the previous year — Nyanga has by no means suddenly become safe, but CPF chair Martin Makasi said the improvement was worth applauding.
He attributed it to a better relationship between police and the community, saying the key element was the revival of social crime-prevention initiatives.
“We targeted children, the youth, women, the disabled and the elderly and created a working relationship with them,” Makasi said.
“This improved the relationship and trust between the police and the community.
“I thank the Nyanga CPF, the neighbourhood watches, the police officers working at Nyanga police station and NGOs. I also want to thank all the residents within the Nyanga policing precinct.”
Makasi attributed the drop in the number of many crimes — from house robbery to shoplifting — to a changed attitude in the community.
“Nyanga stopped whining about a lack of resources and found innovative ways of tackling crime,” he said.
“We worked tirelessly in the past four years. We are happy that those efforts are starting to bear fruit.”
Makasi’s counterpart in Delft, Charles George, said he was not surprised that his neighbourhood was SA’s new murder capital.
“The first thing that we need to understand is that Delft is growing at a rapid pace,” he said.
“We became a city overnight. Picture this: human settlements releases 400 houses and behind those houses there are backyard dwellers. Behind each house there are between two and four families.”
George said he had flagged the escalating crime problem to government officials more than a year ago. “I said we can’t fight crime the same way we did in the last century by just having boots on the ground. That will only fuel the crime.”