GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
17 February 2023
The latest set of appalling crime statistics – including over 80 murders and 135 rapes per day – exposes the extent to which South Africa has failed to recalibrate, narrow inequalities and develop its people and communities over the past three decades.
Rapid urbanisation was always going to be a feature of post-apartheid South Africa following decades of legislation that made urbanisation illegal. But our towns and cities were ill-prepared.
The State built millions of subsidized homes, but instead of taking the opportunity to achieve spatial justice, and begin to integrate urban areas following decades of the Group Areas Act, most of these homes were poorly located, poorly built and are poorly serviced. New ghettoes in the making.
Millions of people are even worse off, living in squalor in informal settlements.
Millions of people don’t have jobs, don’t have any regular income, and aren’t provided the tools to fight their way from the cycle of poverty.
Meanwhile, life, on the proverbial other side of town, has been relatively peachy. The country has steadily climbed the list of the most unequal places on earth.
Crime is not a product of poor policing, alone.
It is a product of a toxic blend of social and economic injustice; developing new and failing to fix old incohesive and unviable communities; under valuing the importance of youth development programmes; hopelessness and low self-esteem.
It is tempting to lay the blame for the high crime rate solely at the feet of government, which is responsible for setting the national tone and policies, and implementing them – and has proven itself richly deserving of condemnation for its weaknesses, corruption and mismanagement.
But the rest of society, including business and the middle-class, also have to accept some responsibility for the country’s total failure to narrow the gap between haves and have-nots.
The crime statistics for the last quarter of 2022 that Minister of Police Bheki Cele delivered today are shocking. Violent crime has increased in all categories. Women and children continue to be preyed on by men, and patriarchy continues to reign.
Almost half of the reported rapes took place at the residence of the perpetrator and/or victim. Where should women and children feel safe?
Between October and December, 500 people were convicted and sentenced for GBVF related crimes, but during this same period another 5 000 suspects were arrested for similar offences.
We need more skilled police and prosecutors, but even more than that we need more and better skilled teachers, more social workers, more emphasis on developing children, more community development projects, and more vision and dedication at local government level to develop under-resourced communities.
We need a state that sees the necessity for programmes to heal broken and dispirited people and communities – and address their exclusion. And we need a business and middle-class that sees the necessity to assist.
Media Enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 0733671223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za