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3 July 2007

Introduction

The release today of the crime trends report of the South African Police Service (SAPS) introduces changes that were announced last year regarding how we would publish those reports in future. The report covers the 2006/2007 Financial Report.

This report will not replace the release in September of the SAPS annual report. That report is an account to parliament by the police on the work they have done and how they have handled the budget allocated to them for the financial year under review. The annual report follows clearly defined prescripts that include an audit by the Auditor-General before submission to parliament.

We are exploring other measures regarding future releases of the crime trends report as that matter relates, particularly to the timelines we want to define in an attempt to shorten the reporting cycle.

Social crime

The report on crime trends show that crime levels in South Africa continue to drop. We are deeply concerned, though, that crime continues to be rife and that the crime rate continues to be high. The fact that instances of serious and violent crime are very high is disconcerting and unacceptable.

Serious and violent crime defines, in the main, murder, rape, serious and violent assault and indecent assault. The attempts to commit those crimes are also depicted as serious and violent crime.

During the period under review, the overall decrease in contact crime, where physical injury is visited upon a victim and where death often occurs, was 3,0%, well below the 7 to 10% reduction we want to achieve.

Our analysis, as well as other independent surveys, continues to show that at least two thirds of all serious and violent crimes happen between people who know one another and who will be found mostly within the confines of the same social environment. The trigger for such crimes, more often than not, is alcohol and substance abuse. Some of the cases, of course, are crimes of passion that happen between lovers. Those crimes happen mostly outside the reach of conventional policing. The police, in those circumstances, are largely reactive in their response. Of course, there have been cases where the police have been able to stop family hostage dramas and family feuds that have had the potential to take life.

Commenting on the phenomenon of social crime in her regular column yesterday, Jennie Ridyard, in a piece under the heading 'Time to end paranoia in the suburbs,' wrote among other things:

"Yet still, statistically, your gun is more likely to kill a member of your family than it is to save your life. Statistically a woman is still safer walking down the street at night than she is in her own home, for it is here that she's most likely to be raped, beaten or murdered by the very person who promised to love and cherish her. Statistically stranger danger isn't nearly as dangerous as friend danger, for abuse is most likely to happen when the perpetrator is known to the victim."

Her argument must not be misunderstood. She was not saying that murderers do not kill strangers and that rapists do not rape strangers. Indeed, approximately 20% of serious and violent crimes are committed against victims by strangers who are carrying dangerous weapons in aggravated robberies. In at least 15% of the murders, according to the current review, firearms were used in the robberies.

There have been high profile cases in South Africa that relate to family murders, including the killing of the son of the City Press editor, Mr Mathatha Tsedu and the stage star Taliep Petersen. Both cases are before court.

The serious and violent nature of crime in South Africa is the subject of a study that is being done for government by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR). The study is intended to help government to find answers to why there is so much violent crime in South Africa and why most of it is violence between people who know one another. The answers to those pertinent questions will enable government to design appropriate responses.

Overview

The statistics demonstrate, once more, that the social conditions under which people live have an impact on the incidence of crime in South Africa. Poorer communities experience more violent crime than wealthier ones.

There was a spike in aggravated robbery in the second quarter of last year (April to June). That contributed to the increase by 2,4% of the murder rate. Aggravated robbery indicated an increase of 4,6%. But, the biggest portion of aggravated robbery during the period under review was street robbery where dangerous weapons were used. That accounted for 72,7% of all aggravated robberies. It was followed by carjacking (10,7%), robbery at residential premises (10,1%) and robbery at business premises (5,3%). The most dramatic crimes, cash-in-transit and bank robberies were, respectively, 0,4% and 0,1%.

Given that those robberies are accompanied by bloodletting where heavy calibre firearms are used by organised criminal gangs and that innocent bystanders are often caught in the crossfire, and the fact that the incidents happen in broad daylight, on our roads and streets and around banks and shopping malls, they have had a devastating effect on the psyche of the nation.

Most serious crimes during the period under review occurred in a minority of the more than 1 100 police station areas nationally. For example all murders happened in 8,5% of police precincts while sexual offences were recorded in 10,3% station areas. What that tells us is that there are particular geographic areas where such crimes occur and the socio-graphic reading of those areas indicates poor economic conditions.

The serious and violent social crimes occur mainly over weekends where alcohol and substances are abused. A further analysis has shown that the majority of the crimes happen during the holiday months of December and January. The lowest crime rates are recorded during the winter months of June and July.

Interventions

There are various interventions that we are making to enhance the police project to prevent and combat crime. We are, in the first instance, mobilising the masses of our people to participate in the effort to provide safety and security to our nationals and visitors to our country.

Community Policing

Community policing is a philosophy of policing we believe will serve better the interests of our people and consolidate the country's programme of national security. Community policing defines a role for the masses of the people in crime prevention and combating on the basis that the law enforcement agencies, especially the police, cannot fight crime effectively if they do not enjoy the active support of the people. Indeed, in instances where that support is available, crime levels have gone down in the concerned areas.

In the coming months, we are going to strengthen community policing as a vehicle of change in our policing method. Key to the project is the role of the Community Policing Forums that will be redesigned and recast so that they can co-ordinate the relationship between the communities and the police. The people will report back regularly to the communities on crime trends in their areas and how the police are engaging with that. The reporting cycle will not be more than three months.

Restructuring

There are changes we are making to the police service as a necessary step towards better policing and improved services. We have redefined the local police station as the crucible of such service delivery.

The restructuring of SAPS started only in August last year. A detailed assessment of the effectiveness of the changes will be done next year. But, we can say right here and now that there is an indication in some cases of the wisdom of pushing more resources to the station level and empowering that level to prevent and combat crime.

The revised structure incorporates the advantages of decentralisation of work and authority along with specialised skills that will be available at station level thereby reducing response times and providing better service delivery. In the circumstances, experienced operational managers and personnel from forty-three area offices in the nine provinces as well as from the national and provincial offices, where necessary, were redeployed to police stations to boost the administrative and operational managerial ability of the stations and increase the staff complement. In addition a computerised performance measurement system was introduced within the SAPS to assess and evaluate police performance.

Training

The positive statistical trends in general are a pointer to the new programmes that have been devised by the South African Police Service.

In order to qualify for recruitment into the police, new trainees have to undergo training for 12 months before they are enlisted into the police. Thereafter, they are subjected to probation for a further 12 months. During the first six months, the recruits are trained at any one of 11 training institutes throughout South Africa. The next six months are for field training under a Field Training Officer at a designated training station.

At the end of the first 12 months, the recruits are monitored and assessed as part of their probation. The programme has produced well-trained police officials. This is supplemented by various in-service training courses for specialisation.

The detective learning programme has been increased from six weeks to 14 weeks and is presented at the Detective Academies in Hammanskraal and Paarl. The detectives are trained in a variety of courses, including those connected to counter terrorism, commercial crime, organised crime, family violence, child protection and sexual offences, and serious and violent crime.

Challenges

Challenges remain in other categories of our crime prevention and combating programme. Alcohol and drug abuse continues to be a problem. SAPS initiatives against this scourge include a liquor control strategy, and domestic violence programme as well as programmes for youth and homeless children.

We are also collaborating with departments in the Justice Crime Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS) such as Justice and Correctional Services. We are also working together with departments like Health, Housing and Education as well as local government authorities and non governmental organisations (NGOs).

Over the past five years the joint effort on the ground by all role players produced the following results:

* significant successes in the war against crime by the police and other law enforcement agencies
* decreases in crime levels through police interventions and joint operations with other law enforcement agencies in respect of serious and violent crimes
* major decreases regarding property-related crime like burglary at residential and non-residential premises, theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles, theft out of or from motor vehicles as well as stock theft.

Finally, South Africa should be reminded of the invaluable and selfless role that the South African Police Service is playing in shaping and protecting our society. We often take this for granted.

During the period under review 108 of our members were murdered while on duty. We honour those fallen heroes and wish to salute their families for having allowed them to serve our country in the pursuit of peace and stability, despite the dangers inherent in policing.

Issued by: Secretariat for Safety and Security
3 July 2007