Police are trying to cover up shocking crime statistics that could devastate tourism, writes Chris McGreal
The first thing the growing bands of foreign tourists see after they leave Cape Town airport is never mentioned in the publicity extolling the magnificence of Table Mountain and the glistening sands of Camps Bay.
The N2 highway into the city cuts through the ever-growing squatter camps that surround the townships. It is an appropriate introduction to the realities of South Africa for tourists who might otherwise see only a city more rooted in Europe than Africa. But it is also a shock for many to catch even a brief glimpse of the squalid conditions to which so many black people are consigned, a dirty secret kept from them until the last minute.
There is another secret about the N2 kept not only from foreigners but Cape Town’s own residents. A month ago, a motorist, Bertie Louw, was shot dead after his car broke down on the highway. The Cape Times reported the killing and was surprised to receive a flood of letters from people who had been robbed by armed men on the road.
The paper wondered just how many people had been attacked on the N2. The police refused to tell, claiming that the government will not release any crime statistics on the grounds that they are “unreliable”.
As a justification, the government cites the example of a sudden surge in reported “cash-in-transit” robberies in the Eastern Cape. These are normally taken to mean raids on security vans delivering money to banks but it turned out that pickpocketing on buses was also included in the figures because it was robbery of money on the move.
Others suspect a different motive, particularly when it comes to the N2: the crime figures are just plain embarrassing.
South Africa’s crime wave has already had an impact on tourism, and officials are concerned that if it becomes known that the road from the airport to Cape Town the only means of travelling between the two is a death trap, the city can wave goodbye to the tourists.
The Cape Times is now suing the government to force it to release crime statistics after scores of people wrote claiming to be victims of attacks on the N2.
Some said their cars broke down and that within minutes they found themselves being held up by armed robbers who quickly emerged from the squatter camps. At least two other people have been murdered, including a man shot in the head after he stopped at the roadside to take a cellphone call.
A favoured tactic is to hurl rocks through windscreens from bridges over the highway. When the motorists stop or crash, they find a man with a gun waiting for them. Police officials say that attacks on pedestrians walking along the N2 occur every two to three hours.
As if to prove the point, a press conference alongside the highway last week by the province’s security minister to announce new safety measures was interrupted by two people pleading for help after they were held up at gunpoint minutes earlier. In an effort to curb the attacks, the provincial government has already boosted the number of police patrol vehicles on the road. But the long- term solution is said to lie with video cameras along the length of the N2. The Western Cape’s security minister is promising that they will be installed within weeks, and that the police will be able to spot a breakdown or hijacking and respond instantly.
Cameras may also deter the killings that often accompany hijackings. Car thieves are said to murder drivers so there are no witnesses to testify in court. Cameras not only provide the evidence needed, even if the only human witnesses are dead, but also remove one of the reasons to commit a crime far worse than theft.