A television SMS poll on crime in South Africa drew a record response with about 400 000 people saying it is spiralling out of control ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, a newspaper report said on Tuesday.
The poll was carried out by a popular television talk show after President Thabo Mbeki angered many by saying that most people in the country do not think that ”crime is spinning out of control.”
The Afrikaans-language Beeld newspaper said: ”About 400 000 SMSs were received by early yesterday [Monday] evening … the most ever to take part in an SMS survey.”
The SMS originally read: ”If you think crime in South Africa is out of control SMS ‘yes’ to 33588.”
But as the message was passed around it gained tags such as ”Please forward this to as many people as possible and prove Mbeki wrong! Stand up to crime.”
South Africa has one of highest crime rates in the world, with 18 528 murders reported in the country of 46-million over the 2005’06 financial year, according to national crime statistics.
With violence and crime splashed in newspapers every day, the issue is an emotive one for South Africans, who are hoping it can be curbed before it hosts the World Cup in 2010.
Beeld cited Richard Rice, an official from a company that conducts surveys, as saying the poll is not credible due to the emotional tags attached to it that may have prejudiced people. — AFP
