At least a fifth of South African households are hit by crime every year, but it is highly unlikely that those responsible will be brought to book. Of the criminals who do go to jail, however, a high percentage will leave in coffins.
A South Africa country profile on drugs and crime by the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention finds that people are most likely to be attacked at home: half of all rapes and a third of assaults take place within the home.
The report notes: ”Of the nearly two-and-a-half million recorded crimes in 2000, 1 455 895 went [unsolved]” and ”half a million cases were withdrawn. Of the 609 928 cases that were sent to court, 211 762 ended in a conviction of the accused.”
In other words, only a quarter of reported crimes made it to court, and of those only a third of offenders were convicted. Less than one in 10 reported crimes resulted in a conviction. A number of crimes are not reported.
Murder is declining, with almost a third less murders now than in 1994.
Serious assault is increasing and rape remains ”at a very high level: still one of the single highest in the world”.
On a positive note, however, the report says: ”Once a case enters the prosecution service, the criminal justice system improves. Of all crimes that are prosecuted some three quarters result in a conviction of the accused, a result that compares favourably internationally.”
It notes that South Africa reports among the highest levels of violent crime in the world. ”One third of all crimes recorded by the police in 2000 was violent in nature. Violent crime is accentuated by the availability of firearms. According to the Central Firearms Registry, 3,5-million South Africans legally possess 4,2-million firearms, and it is estimated that a similar number of illicit firearms are circulating … Murder with a firearm increased to 49% of murders in 1999, while robbery with a firearm increased to 85% of all serious robberies.”
The prison system, the report suggests, does more to promote injustice than to ensure justice is served.
”In 2001 the country’s 238 prisons, designed to hold 105 000 people, were housing 176 000 inmates and 33 093 officials were employed to manage the prison population.”
Overcrowding and high rates of HIV are challenges, but the situation also ”undermines the rights of those accused and convicted of a crime who are held in custody and has negative effects on the implementation of rehabilitation programmes”. On average an accused spends 139 days in jail waiting for his or her trial to be completed.
The high rates of overcrowding facilitate the spread of disease, especially tuberculosis and HIV/Aids.
”This problem is highlighted by the substantial number of ‘natural’ deaths in prisons since 1995. Between 1995 and 2000 the number of natural deaths increased by 484%. According to post-mortems conducted, most of these deaths are believed to have been the result of HIV/Aids.”