The African Union’s elite watchdog body has urged South Africa to make the fight against violent crime its top priority, the Sunday Times reported.
In a hard-hitting confidential report that will go to heads of state in January, a panel of African elders warned that crime, poverty, unemployment and the political domination of the African National Congress threatened the stability of South Africa’s hard won democracy.
The 300-page African Peer Review Mechanism report submitted to President Thabo Mbeki’s Cabinet three weeks ago brushed aside the country’s own self-assessment report submitted in June and relied on non-government submissions and its own year-long research to conclude that fighting crime should be the country’s top priority.
”A great deal has been achieved during the past 12 years … however, much remains to be done as the nation continues to face a number of challenges,” the report said.
The report reinforced United States ambassador Eric Bost’s warning in a Sunday Times interview last week that crime could torpedo South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Key threats to South Africa’s stability listed by the panel included the high level of violent crime, high levels of crime against women and children, unemployment, black economic empowerment which enriches too few people, the critical shortage of skills and the immense gap between the rich and the poor and the division of society by race and class. – Sapa