Don’t blame the government for Alexandra violence

I went to a media briefing at the Alexandra police station yesterday. Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula spoke to journalists in a small conference. It was so packed that it was necessary to literally force your way inside. A bit of better planning on a bigger conference room would have made the whole exercise a lot easier.

The Minister’s points boiled down saying the situation in Alexandra was no stable, “…tense, but stable,” thanks to increased police presence in the area.

The new line by the government is that criminal elements are behind the attacks. From the Minister’s mouth:

…no amount of economic hardship and discontent can ever justify criminal activity and bigotry that these attacks represent… Any suggestion that poor service delivery and rising cost of living is to blame for these attacks must be rejected with the contempt it deserves.

While there is no doubt that the violence that exploded in Alexandra was exacerbated by opportunistic marauders to indulge in some looting and pillaging. It is still a fact the poor of South Africa are worse off (purely from an ecomomic perspective) then under Apartheid. And so they turn on a convenient scape goat – the foreign nationals who have sought refuge in South Africa and built lives for themselves.

Many of these foreign nationals are educated or trained in a profession. Whereas, getting a higher education is still very difficult for many South Africans. Not to mention the state of our secondary education where learners face apathy from teachers and second-rate facilities.

It seems a bit late for the xenophobia workshops that the government thinks will solve the problem. Perhaps there should have been a greater emphasis on delivering the service and resources that so many South Africans still desperately need.

There us an excellent article on Politicsweb which argues the blame for the current situation should still be placed at the feet of our ruling political parties and not “criminal elements” in the townships.

The minister said the xenophobic attacks had not spread to Diepsloot and violence in the area was unconnected. The times has uploaded a video that refutes this.

Rape victims lose out in SA

SABC 3’s flagship investigation program, Special Assignment, ran a story about rape victims in South Africa. Quoting from their website:

In South Africa a woman is raped every 23 seconds… and most of these cases go unreported. Of those that do, only 4% end in conviction. There is massive fallout of cases from the point of reporting through to prosecution. Many blame poor treatment at the hands of the police and courts for discouraging women from seeking justice.

The program showed hidden camera footage of rape victims attempting to get help and follow-up their cases at various police stations around the country. In almost every case they were met with apathy, disbelief and, in some cases, open hostility. According to the show only two percent of rape cases are fake.

While I am not sure of their statistics – another source has put it at 62 rapes a day (rather then 3756 as Special Assignment has it) – this does not diminish horror of rape.

This is not a new development, but a social crisis that has been fermenting for years and seems to be becoming worse every year. We have one the highest violent crime rates in the entire world and a large part of that is made up of rape cases.

It is a complicated task to determine what underlying factors have led to the culture of violence and rape
that is present in South Africa; and I will not attempt to find them.

Whatever these factors are, things will not change unless we have an effective, committed and skilled police force. Although there are some dedicated individuals and departments; most police officers in South Africa feel little to no passion for justice. They join the service because there are few other opportunities for them

The requirements for joining the SAPS are:

1. You must be a SA citizen
2. Have a driver’s license
3. Be 18 -29
4. physically fit
5. Have a matric certificate

To have a matric certificate you must have attained a grade of at least 50% in your subjects. This evidences little more then a basic level of education. A friend quoted a conversation with a high school headmaster who stated that he considered employment in the police service the only option for many of his poorer students.

This does raise questions about the image of the police that is passed on by educators. However, so as long as a job in the police is only considered as a last resort, nothing will change.

Police need to be better payed, better trained and be considered important members of our community. Ask yourself this: Would you want/encourage your child to join the police?