Azania (South Africa) not world’s crime head quarters

Report by SAPA.

The rightwing extremists on CESA have egg on the face, after the latest report that clears Azania (South Africa) of it’s so-called “crime top spot status”. Comrades Mandela and Mbeki transformed Azania (South Africa) to the jewel of Africa, setting an example to the rest of the world. That was done without the input of white racists in top government positions. The ANC/COSATU/COMMUNIST led government kicks ass. Racist capitalist South Africa gave birth to a striving socialist Azania!

South Africa should not see itself as the “criminal skunk” of the world because many other countries in transition had the same high crime prevalence. Dap Louw, a psychology professor at the University of the Free State, said South Africans should also not develop a “Learned Helplessness Syndrome” - characterised by powerlessness and incapability in the fight against crime.

“A positive national self image should be promoted to combat the cynicism, distrust and depression that disempower South Africans to actively participate in the fight of crime,” Louw, also a renowned criminologist, said during a symposium in Bloemfontein on violent crimes. “We can do something about it instead of just talking about it around braais.”

Louw said the present crime situation in South Africa should be put in perspective because this was something the South African media “clearly did not specialise in”. “We lived in an abnormal society (apartheid), now we live in a normal society in a country in transition.”

Louw said other transitional countries who had experienced the same crime situation as South Africa were Russia, Estonia, Cambodia and Poland. Louw said the media in other non-transitional countries like America, Wales, England and Australia had also reported on “concerns” of an increase of violent crime in 1996. “These people are in the same boat as you and me,” Louw said, himself also a crime victim having being stabbed twice in the back.

Looking at the causes of crime, Louw said South Africans should not look further than themselves and must stop pointing fingers at others. Louw quoted 19th century French criminologist Jean Lacassagne who said: “Every society gets the number of criminals it deserves”. Referring to the environmental causes of crime, Louw said that in South Africa he would add to this quote the words “the kind of criminals it deserves” if one looked at the state of the country’s children. “Approximately 40 percent of our children live in poverty, about 100 000 children are projected to die from Aids in the next ten years, two million [will be] orphaned, and 30 percent of the reported cases of suicidal behaviour involve children.”

At least 1000 children were murdered every year, 20 000 were raped each year (40 percent of all rape cases), while millions were emotionally and physically abused and neglected by parents and other adults. “Today’s children are not only tomorrow’s adults, they are also tomorrow’s criminals.” Louw was of the opinion that alcohol’s role in crime and accidents was under-reported in the country, although 60 percent of all crime was already attributed to alcohol.

Poverty alleviation and social upliftment should form part of any crime prevention strategy. Other factors include research, the targeting of less serious offences “creating a zero tolerance effect”, the involvement of communities and empowering victims. Although violent crime was regarded as South Africa’s foremost threat scientific data was scarce, Louw said.

Also speaking at the symposium was Human Rights Commissioner Leon Wessels, who said the crime situation had caused the number of initial supporters for the abolishing of the death penalty to shrink. However, he said it was not likely that the death penalty would come back within the “life time” of the current government. Wessels said there was enough room within the Constitution to tackle the crime situation. Chairman of the Civil Society Initiative, Roelf Meyer, agreed that crime with a “violent element” should be researched. Reasons for the “mindset” must be found.

Meyer said ways of improving the crime situation include involving the private sector in police training, proper and good management of policing at grass root level and getting civil society involved. - Sapa