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Faizel Patel – 03/08/2020
The Director of Safety and Violence Initiative at the University of Cape Town says the recently released crime stats paints a grim picture of the crime being committed in South Africa.
The crime statistics, covering the period between April last year to March this year, were released on Friday and have been described as a mixed bag by experts.
The police have recorded 943 murders and over 24,000 sexual offences against children.
Speaking to Radio Islam, Dr Guy Lamb says the crime stats still leaves a lot to be desired.
“So generally not particularly good news. I think also there was hope amongst many within South Africa and particularly in the Western Cape that the operation lockdown which saw the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) deployed and the creation of the anti-gang unit would result in a significant reduction.”
Lamb says alcohol is a key intermediary facilitating factor when it comes to violent crime.
“South Africa has always had a problem with alcohol and alcohol related to crime. So it is about time that we start looking at it and looking at it quite seriously but to maybe think about it in smart and strategic ways. I mean blanket bans can have very negative and unintended consequences.”
Lamb says there are concerns that the crime stats does not include crime committed during the COVID-19 lockdown period which may paint a different picture when the stats are released later.
Listen to the interview with Dr. Guy Lamb
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