Business is seriously starting to turn its collective=20 mind to combating crime. Reg Rumney reports
There is little disagreement that combating crime is=20 the top priority in South Africa today. Barely a day=20 goes by without one business leader or another=20 identifying crime as the greatest retardant of=20 investment and barrier to prosperity.
South African Chamber of Business legal affairs=20 director Ken Warren has stated crime is scaring off=20 foreign investors and forcing some local firms to=20 close. Now business has on a broad front begun to take=20 up the battle against crime itself rather than leave it=20 to government.=20
At the most basic level, businesses have begun to=20 police their own areas. For the past year, the Central=20 Johannesburg Business Partnership has provided security=20 in the central city are, as part of a pilot “Business=20 Improvement District”. BIDs, as they are known, are a=20 United States solution to inner city decay, using=20 contributions by city landowners to supplement=20 municipal security, cleaning and marketing. Partnership=20 executive director Neil Fraser says the first BID will=20 come off the ground on August 1 after a two-year=20 gestation period.
The pilot project involved only private security in an=20 area of the central city from Main to Pritchard=20 streets, and Kruis to Von Wielligh streets, taking in=20 the Smal Street Mall up to Jeppe Street.
Fraser said US experience had shown visible security=20 decreased crime, and this was confirmed by the pilot=20 project which cut reported muggings in the designated=20 area from about 26 a month to two or three a month.
From=20August 1, extra cleaning will be added to private=20 policing, and after that will come marketing.
A Nedcor study of “Crime, Violence and the Economy,”=20 found that almost all businesses are already involved=20 in some form of crime prevention, if only within their=20 own companies. All agree a national crime policy and=20 strategy is essential, and within the national strategy=20 local programmes can play a role.
The project, which involved more than 40 interviews=20 with individuals ranging from chief executive officers=20 of potential investor groups to people engaged in crime=20 prevention, also found:
* Crime and violence are unanimously seen to be a=20 major threat to the transition.
* The key to increased foreign investment is domestic=20 investment, which in turn is affected by political=20 stability, especially in law and order.
* The business sector is suffering increased costs=20 associated with crime and violence.
* Most interviewees had personally, or through family=20 and friends, felt the effect of crime and violence.
* Attention should be focused not only on crime=20 prevention and detection but also on the criminal=20 justice system.
Business has also come to see combating crime in terms=20 of social responsibility. Last Thursday the official=20 body representing short-term insurers, the South=20 African Insurance Association (SAIA), presented a=20 mobile police station to the South African Police=20 Service for the Noordgesig community.
Presenting the mobile station, SAIA chairman Keith=20 Nilsson said the alarming increase in crime had=20 prompted the association to look for a way to help the=20 police combat crime. Nilsson referred to the possible=20 development of a “culture of crime”, noting that a=20 motor vehicle is stolen every 5,39 minutes in South=20
In 1994, according to the SAIA, 109 166 cases of=20 vehicle theft were reported, nearly 23 percent more=20 than in 1993.
That a “culture of crime” pervades society is a thesis=20 Council of South African Bankers chief executive Piet=20 Liebenberg accepts.
The council and Business South Africa have launched a=20 “Business Initiative against Corruption and Crime”. The=20 initiative will kick off with a one-day workshop of top=20 business people at the World Trade Centre in Kempton=20 Park on August 15, to be opened by President Nelson=20
Liebenberg says the economies of South Africa and=20 neighbouring countries are being threatened by a=20 breakdown in moral standards. He notes that Mandela=20 himself called in December for South Africa to be put=20 on a new moral footing.
But Liebenberg says the breakdown in ethical standards=20 cannot be addressed, without at the same time tackling=20 prevention and education.
The idea of the workshop is to begin a process. “It=20 won’t be a one-off meeting where you walk away with a=20 warm feeling. Afterwards we will analyse all the inputs=20 from leading business people and go with a properly=20 mandated set of recommendations to government.”
Liebenberg says many business initiatives look only at=20 the symptoms of moral malaise. He believes the solution=20 needs to go much deeper to treat the causes.
To this end a plan has to be co-ordinated with the=20 government and other sectors of society such as labour,=20 the churches and the academic community. At the same=20 time, the symptoms have to be tackled.
Liebenberg emphasises the workshop is a meeting of the=20 country’s leadership. “The leaders have to set the=20