Crime and no punishment

by CNN Interactive Writer
Beat Witschi

(CNN) -- South Africa can be a very dangerous place, both for natives and visitors alike. That is the perception -- and perception, as many politicians can attest to, is almost as important as reality.

Media coverage of crime is intense in South Africa, reflecting growing public concern that crime is rampant and that the government is not doing enough to curb it.

Crime-related headlines and media stories abound: on New Year's Eve a 44-year-old German tourist was stabbed to death in front of his two small sons while walking on Durban's beach front. An American and his South African companion were abducted and murdered in Cape Town over the Christmas holiday season. Two Swedish tourists were found dead in their holiday apartment near Durban in February: one had been shot in the chest, the other in the head. Somewhat luckier were three visitors from Malawi. They survived after they were robbed of $4,080 by bogus policemen while on their way from the airport to Johannesburg.

The violence does not spare politicians either. In early March, the head of Cape Town City Council's housing department, Billy Cobbett, decided to move his family to Britain after receiving death threats from gangs. The threats came after he attempted to clean up a corrupt council housing operation.

South Africa: At a Glance

Population: 41 million (1995 est.) Languages: 11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu Capital: Pretoria (administrative); Cape Town (legislative); Bloemfontein (judicial) Ethnic divisions: black 75.2%, white 13.6%, Colored 8.6%, Indian 2.6% Religions: Christian (most whites and about 60% of blacks), Hindu (60% of Indians), Muslim 2% Independence: 31 May 1910 (from the United Kingdom) Bordering countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Life expectancy: 62.9 years GDP per capita: U.S. $4,800 (1995 est.) Unemployment rate: 32.6% (1996 est.); an additional 11% underemployment Literacy: 82 percent (1993) Radios: One per 3.9 persons Televisions: One per 11 persons Telephones: One per 7.5 persons Average daily newspaper reports: 1,201,000 Did you know? South Africa completely surrounds the kingdom of Lesotho and almost completely surrounds Swaziland SOURCES: United Nations; U.S. Library of Congress; news reports

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Then there are the particularly gruesome and headline-grabbing crime cases, such as that of Rob Kaplan. He nearly died last year after an armed robbery at his Johannesburg home. He received more than a dozen puncture wounds, some 30 blows to the head and was tortured with a burning clothes iron. Miraculously, he survived and his case became the country's best-publicized crime of brutality.

He didn't flee, and is trying to fight back. "Why should I leave this country that I love so much?" he said last year. So he launched his own anti-crime group.

Mandela: Serious crime has decreased

The government has long been aware of the burgeoning crime rate. But in his opening address to Parliament in February, President Nelson Mandela assured the nation that there had been a "marked decline in virtually all serious crimes such as murder, robbery, taxi violence, car hijacking and others" since 1994

His assessment only drew derisive laughter from opposition legislators, who accuse the president of being short on details on how to really tackle crime. Mandela's assurances also do little to decrease the public's perception that there are not enough policemen on the beat. As a result, private security has become big business in South Africa.

Mandela has said that both the criminal justice system and the police service are in a phase of transition, moving from apartheid-era institutions to truly democratic and public service-oriented organizations.

And while the government insists that the quality of those institutions has improved, the legacy of the apartheid past still lingers: police corruption, police collusion with criminal elements, racism within the police force, not enough policemen on the beat... the list goes on.

The creation of organized anti-crime and vigilante groups -- such as the Muslim-inspired People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) -- has triggered debate about how crime should be fought.

The issue of jobs

March 26-28 Clinton addresses a South Africa 'truly free at last' Clinton, Mandela agree to disagree

President Clinton will highlight the nation's post-apartheid progress and movement toward multi-party democracy. He'll also visit the prison where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years.

Mandela and his government have recognized the problem. "Jobs, jobs and jobs is the clarion call that should guide us ... given its impact on everything else we do as a nation, including crime prevention, reconciliation and the very survival of our democracy," Mandela told Parliament early in March.

He acknowledged that change for the better has been far slower in some areas than expected. His party's promise to build a million new houses by 1999 is way off track, he noted, with only 400,000 homes completed or under construction. And he also admitted to problems with provincial management, funding and corruption.

Jobs come with international investment, and Mandela has been actively courting that. The government has now also proposed an ambitious project to give more blacks a tangible stake in mainstream businesses by utilizing assets derived from a program of partial privatization -- a program which could raise up to $404 million.

Under the plan, an equity stake in the privatized companies -- such as the Airports Company, carrier Sun Air and telecommunications giant Telkom -- would be offered to trade unions, black enterprises and rural communities at a substantial discount.

Employee shareholder programs, low-interest loans and interest-free salary advances are further measures to be debated by Parliament in the coming months.

Analysts underline that the post-apartheid government must be credited with having made some achievements since it took power in 1994: a new breed of black middle class South Africans has emerged. And today, six percent of black South Africans are among the top 20 percent of earners, compared with only two percent in 1990.

But the battle for broader wealth distribution has only just started. "Unless previously disadvantaged people have got a stake in the running of the country in all respects, political and economic, the stability of this country cannot be guaranteed," said political analyst Sipho Maseko.

Crime: a sore point

While observers admit that the post-apartheid government is doing its best to transform society into a prosperous, well-administered modern society, the fact remains that there is a widespread perception among South Africans that things are not moving fast enough.

Crime statistics

Crime situation Crime prevention strategy Roots of crime

Young people in particular are demanding jobs; education and health care are still sorely lacking; and just about every citizen in South Africa these days walks around with a gun since they say there is not enough of a police presence to combat crime.

There is a growing sense of unease with the Mandela administration, an unease in which crime figures prominently.

Deputy president Thabo Mbeki, who is widely seen as Mandela's successor, has called crime the "fruit of liberation" from white minority rule, a price that South Africa has to pay in its "transitional phase."

But even his mentor admits the challenge is enormous. Speaking in a recent interview, Mandela said he knew that once the dominant theme of political conflict had been addressed, the "issue of crime would stick out like a sore thumb."

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