South Africa

Opposition parties are making hay out of recent crime statistics indicating that some forms of crime are on the rise:

“We are alarmed at the increase in murder (2,4 percent), the 118 percent increase in bank robberies, 52,5 percent increase in robberies at business premises, the 21,9 percent increase in cash-in-transit heists, and the sharp increase in robberies at residential premises (25,4 percent),” Inkatha Freedom Party [IFP]  spokesperson Velaphi Ndlovu said in a statement. “It once again proves without doubt that crime is out of control in South Africa and that the levels of crime remain alarmingly high, despite empty government promises,” he said.

Inkatha’s spokesmen are balancing legitimate fears with the typical opportunism of politicians, to be sure. But they also are reacting to the realities that KwaZulu-Natal, for example, the IFP’s locus of power, is experiencing increasing rates of criminality. (Though the Western Cape remains South Africa’s “murder capital,” and leads in other alarming categories as well.)  Despite the dispiriting news on the crime front, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula has made it clear that he will not resign.

One positive indicator comes from Hillbrow, where crime rates have been dropping, and where, perhaps more significantly, the perception of crime (which is as big a problem as actual crime in South Africa) the perception of danger has waned. And perhaps Hillbrow can offer a lesson for the furure: Increased police presence and community vigilance has seemingly directly correlated with the positive changes. The obvious solution is better policing and more police, though national, provincial, and municipal governments are financially stressed to the point where such solutions are easier to envision than to implement. Still, given the direct and indirect costs of crime, it would seem that more and better policing would increasingly become one of the domestic policy priorities in the year to come.

Liberia’s former President, Charles Taylor, one of Africa’s most ruthless thugs (a bold claim, to be sure) will go on trial at a UN-backed Special Court at the Haguie next week. He will face war crimes charges stemming back to his years as Liberia’s Big Man. A couple of colorful quotations reveal the loathing that taylor inspires among Africans:

“This man called Charles Taylor is a monster.” — Sierra Leonean Adama Turay, whose son and daughter both had hands amputated by RUF rebels.

“I am very happy to see this man is at that court. He needs to be killed rather than fed each day.
Whatever a man soweth, so shall he reap …. Men acting on his order killed many people … That should tell you how wicked that man was.“  — Monrovia resident Rosetta Smith, whose husband was beaten to death by members of an Anti-Terrorist Unit operating under Taylor.

Not all are thrilled with the trial — some fear that it will become a circus, others believe that the trial represents a misallocation of resources, some fear that taylor will be acquitted. But on the whole I would argue that bringing taylor to justice sends the best possible message in light of the atrocities for which Taylor bears responsibility, whether direct or indirect.