Stubbornly high crime statistics show South Africa has a long way to go to fight one of the prime deterrents to much-needed investment, business leaders said on Thursday.
The latest crime data, released by the police on Wednesday, showed a slight decline in murders and other crimes but an alarming rise in others, such as armoured-car heists.
The contrasting figures pose a tough challenge for authorities as they try to lure tourists and foreign investors, especially ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa.
”I have a real feeling that the growth in criminal activity will keep rising,” said Siphiwe Nzimande, CEO of Business Against Crime, a privately funded group based in Johannesburg.
”If that continued to be the pattern over some years it means South Africa [would] become a less safe place to do business. We need to fix it.”
Rape and murder rates dropped between April 2005 and March 2006, but are still far short of the 7% to 10% annual decreases targeted by government, police data showed.
But at the same time, robberies targeting security vehicles moving huge sums of cash increased by 74,1% to more than one a day. There was also a 32% jump in armed robberies of shopping malls and retail outlets over the same period.
Growing pressure to address crime — cited in several reports as one of the main worries for investors — has caught the attention of President Thabo Mbeki, who has agreed to work with Business Against Crime after a recent spate of violent attacks on shopping malls.
This week alone, the upmarket Cresta Shopping Centre in Johannesburg, the nation’s financial hub, was the scene of a shootout between robbers and security guards. Burglars also stormed three shops in a period of six hours in Pretoria.
But businesses say they cannot wait for action from officials, considering the poor track record of anti-crime initiatives undertaken by the African National Congress-led government since it assumed power in 1994.
Some retailers have taken their own steps, with tighter security measures like pricey surveillance systems and hiring extra staff to keep tabs on cash registers and stock.
”There is an increase in crime, but people are always talking about it. My biggest concern is the economic impact and whether insurance will go up,” said Pablo Tesoriero, the owner of a chic ladies’ boutique in the Sandton shopping centre.
”Especially with the World Cup coming here in 2010, we don’t want to push away tourists,” he said.
Major cause for concern
Wednesday’s eventual release of the annual crime statistics — for the period April 1 2005 to March 31 2006 — raised strident calls for the figures to be made public more regularly.
Democratic Alliance spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard said the government’s continued refusal to publish crime statistics on a more regular basis meant the public had to wait another year before finding out just how serious the current crime spike affecting the country was.
”The Minister [of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula] already has statistics for the period April 1 to August 31 2006 and there is no reason why he cannot release this information tomorrow,” she said.
The Inkatha Freedom Party’s Koos van der Merwe agreed, saying quarterly crime statistics should be released so that police could react swiftly to trends in various areas and communities could be more vigilant.
Kohler-Barnard said from the available statistics it was clear government was nowhere near achieving its own target of bringing down serious contact crimes by between 7% and 10% a year.
”Instead, the increases in cash-in-transit heists [74,1%] and car hijackings [3,1%] suggest that the police are losing the battle against heavily armed and well-organised crime syndicates.
”Rather than providing solace, the latest stats should be a major cause for concern to all South Africans, particularly as the country prepares to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup,” she said.
That murder fell by a nominal 2%, rape by 1% and indecent assault by 3,8%, hardly provided much comfort for the South African public.
”These crime statistics are out of date by at least six months, which means that they in no way take into account the massive spike in crime since March this year.”