/ 2 July 2008

Crime ‘is an attack on all of us’

Crime levels in the country are a national problem and not only the responsibility of police and the government, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said on Wednesday.

Speaking at an Institute of Security Studies seminar in Pretoria following the release of the annual crime statistics on Monday, Nqakula said South Africans need to work together and realise the ideals of ”South Africanness”.

”Crime is a problem for our nation. Why are we not uniting? It is an attack on all of us,” he said.

He was ”very worried” about the number of crimes committed by children.

He said police cannot be held responsible for the socio-economic conditions of such children and what has led them to become criminals.

A number of the attacks are alcohol- and drug-related and communities are aware of it.

”The communities know how to deal with drugs …. [and] the situation of the children.”

Referring to the recent xenophobic attacks, Nqakula said he did not believe it was a sudden outbreak of tension.

There has always been tension between locals and people moving in from elsewhere, he said, referring to internal migration, such as from the Eastern Cape to Gauteng.

Deputy Commissioner Andre Pruis called for a more collaborative effort from academics and researchers.

”Now is the time for academics and researchers to tackle this. I can’t address the souls of the people.”

He said universities and academics should help the police by analysing why certain stations across the country were hot spots for crime, and aid in finding preventative approaches to the causes of violence in these areas.

”What I would like to see is a university or institution adopt a station.”

The media were also called to task, with Pruis saying that the media have a role to play and need to be more responsible in their reporting of crime acts.

He said during the xenophobic outbreak people had initiated attacks based on what they had read in newspapers and seen on television.

Assistant Commissioner Chris de Kock said it is unrealistic to expect the media not to report on attacks, but the perceptions that are produced ware not also based on fact.

”There is a big difference between facts and perceptions and I believe in this country we must be very responsible with the facts.”

Nqakula also had a few words for the media.

As a journalist in the 1960s and onwards, he said he could not choose what stories he had to report on, given the parameters of sex, scandal and sport.

”No one is reporting on developmental programmes. Journalists are not reporting on that because it is not a ‘good’ story.”

He said he would like to read a story about a town that five years ago did not have electricity and today did, as he felt that would be a very good story.

”If you hear one day I am going back to journalism, that is the story I am going to do,” he said. — Sapa