Setting record straight on crime

THE police minister does well to state that the murder rate has increased but he must also tell us how many men and of which race were the victims.

It is becoming the norm in South Africa to selectively mention the number of women killed and the nationality of criminals.

The bottom line is men are the most frequent victims of crime and violence and no amount of screaming about femicide will change that.

The crime statistics have become a tool to divert the attention of the public from real crises.

The statistics, with their focus on femicide, are meant to diffuse public anger around the parole saga involving the killer of Chris Hani, and the court ruling that seeks to send former president Jacob Zuma back to prison. Interestingly, the timing of the release of the statistics also always coincides with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s absence from the country.

But, for the police minister, there is no better way to appear competent than to come across as a caring man who is concerned about women and children.

Women can also be abusive and violent. Crimes committed by women go largely unreported. If the government focused on dismantling the social and economic conditions that make men violent towards one another, it would also succeed in greatly reducing violence against women.

The ANC cadres claiming to be concerned about women have failed to elect even seasoned women to the ANC’s highest leadership structures. However, they have no qualms about using the genuine problems faced by women for their own self-justification, often accusing poor and landless black men of criminality.

They do this so that they and their lovers can remain on the gravy train through the support of the same women they dupe but cannot save.

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