OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday
FIGURES cited by President Thabo Mbeki as proof of a decline in violent crimes actually showed an upward trend in these offences, the SA Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) said this week.
The institute – which Mbeki named in an interview as the source of his crime figures – said only the murder rate was down from previously at the time of its latest crime report. Other violent crimes, such as attempted murder, serious assault and rape had continued to rise.
Mbeki told Independent Newspapers, according to an edited text: “People here are saying that violent crimes have been increasing since 1994, but the SAIRR has been publishing that they have been down since 1995.
“If your prejudice informs you that these people are violent and after your property, it is difficult to believe it (a decrease in crime), because it goes against the expectations driven by the stereotype,” Mbeki said.
The crime scenario in the SAIRR’s latest statistics published in October last year was different from the one presented by Mbeki, said Ellen Potter, who compiles the institute’s crime figures.
“Apart from murder, which has decreased, the overall crime rate has increased since 1994,” she said. “This includes violent crimes other than murder.”
The October SAIRR report indicated a 20,8% rise in the incidence of rape since 1994. Serious assault was up by 22% on 1994, armed robbery by 14,5%, attempted murder by five percent, and common assault by 14,5%. The murder rate had dropped by 11,2% compared with 1994. Residential burglaries had risen by 25,2% since 1994, and other robberies by 121,5%, the institute reported.
Presidential representative Bheki Khumalo said the president’s argument was that the media tended not to report on crime categories showing a decrease.
“They concentrate on and emphasise those categories of crime which have seen an increase,” Khumalo said.
The SAIRR had not published any new crime reports since October due to the current moratorium on the relase of crime statistics, Potter said.
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