Rude awakening

So at about 3am this morning I was rudely awoken by a torch light through my bedroom window and someone trying to open my door! The house alarm went off and after the perp was sufficiently spooked off and my heart rate headed southward of 220 beats per minute, I sat in bed wide awake wandering what the hell was going on in this country! The neighbours alarm then went off. Since I have been a victim of crime (violent and other) and know many others who have had similar experiences, I decided to do a little research on crime in South Africa - focusing on violent crime. This includes any kind of aggressive robbery to murder. I think you will be shocked at what I found!

There is not a lot of current statistical information out there. So bear in mind that these stats are a little out dated. There is also very little info pre 1994. Crime stats can be very misleading and varied! This is due to the differences in recording methods and the likelihood of victims reporting crime. It is estimated that up to 60% of crimes in South Africa are NOT reported. Keep this in mind when considering the following stats! This information was obtained from www.gunowners.org/fs0304.htm. These thoughts and inferences are not my own. Please refer to the website for more details and a full bibliography.

Lets take murder in 2000. South African Police (SAP) annual report show that there were nearly 22 000 murders. The Medical Research Council (MRC) says nearly 33 000 and the Department of Home Affairs say there were around 30 000. The Democratic Alliance stated that the average daily murder rate is South Africa is 55. But if we go by the MRC's stats its 90 per day. Now Interpol says 148 per day. So who do you believe? I am inclined to (unfortunately) side with Interpol here. They do crime rate statistics for all countries around the world. So what else do they say? Well, we rank right up there with Colombia. In fact we are worse than they are when it comes to organised crime and murder. Namibia is not bad either?!? According to Interpol and the Crime Information Analysis Centre, in 1998 the highest murder rates (per 100 000 people) were: Jamaica 37, Namibia 45, Colombia 56, South Africa 59 (Just for interest sake - United States 6, Brazil 21). Now if we add the insanity of the DRC and Zimbabwe post 1998 and the increased crime in SA, it "probably makes southern africa the most murderous societies on earth" (The Nedcore Project 1996:6).

To make matters worse, convictions around this time are not great either. The failure of the criminal justice system is portrayed by the following stats: For every 1000 crimes committed in South Africa, only 430 criminals are arrested and furthermore, only 77 are convicted. But wait there's more. Only 8 are sentenced to 2 or more years of imprisonment. And now remember, a third of SA's crime is violent and up to 60% is not reported!

There are various socio-economic explanations for the crime levels. We all know them. I am not here to preach. I just want people to be aware of what's going on around them and want them to realize that we cannot afford to be blasé about crime and its victims.