South Africa’s most trouble-prone area is the sprawling township of Khayelitsha, situated not far from Cape Town International airport, says South Africa’s Minister of Safety and Security, Charles Nqakula.
Speaking at a media briefing of security cluster ministers, Nqakula said the township is the number-one spot in the entire country for murder, rape and serious and violent assault.
He noted that there are 10 gangs operating in the area, which is hugely economically depressed.
“Even 12-year-olds are part of the gangs.”
Noting that something needs to be done, he said that it is one of 62 areas in the country with the highest incidence of contact crimes.
He said a crime and sociographic survey of areas in the country with the highest incidence of contact crimes is to be conducted.
“The profiles will be used to develop action plans in cooperation with various role-players to address causes of crime, especially social crime.”
“We are already working with the Human Sciences Research Council and Statistics South Africa to further enrich our understanding of the generators of social crime. We will also work with relevant provincial governments and local authorities to formulate programmes that will form part of our social crime-prevention thrust.”
Nqakula declined to name the 200 top criminals earmarked for arrest in the coming months.
He was asked why the names could not be released so that the public could measure the promise made by the government.
President Thabo Mbeki said in his State of the Nation address to Parliament last week that “in the next three months we will set up special joint teams to target and focus on serious crime with an immediate objective of apprehending the top 200 criminals in the country, using all legal instruments to bring them to justice”.
Nqakula said merely “these are people we know” but as a matter of strategy it is not possible to make public their names.
He said they have been involved in organised crimes, including bank robberies and heists.
“We are looking for drug dealers; we are looking for people who are multi-murderers.”
He noted that police, the Scorpions and national intelligence will be involved in tracking the criminals. — I-Net Bridge