SA 'NEEDS PROACTIVE APPROACH TO CRIME'

Crime is something that affects us all - we all know someone against whom a crime has been committed or indeed have ourselves, been a victim of crime ourselves. Hell, I'm sure that there are some of you who have also contributed to the crime situation.

It does affect us - it affects us financially, emotionally and often even physically.

Yes, I agree that the Government needs to do more, but having said that - we also need to do something about it in our own personal capacity. We need to report any kind of crime that we see - only that way can something be done about it.

So when you see something happening, stand up and be counted - report it. Become a part of the solution instead of part of the problem and/or a victim.


SA 'needs proactive approach to crime'
October 03 2007 at 05:36AM

Fixing the criminal justice system is only one part of the solution to South Africa's crime problems, according to Johan Burger, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies. Burger was responding this week to reports that the Big Business Working Group had presented President Thabo Mbeki with a report that reviewed the criminal justice system and identified reasons for its poor performance. Although much of the content has not been made public, Burger said if the initiative proposed by the group was to have any real impact, it must be the beginning of a more comprehensive approach to crime."The criminal justice system will forever remain a response to crime, and therefore we also need to start looking at proactive solutions.




"The idea of improved co-ordination is the right one, but we need to co-ordinate at a higher level all government efforts to combat crime, both those that are proactive and those that are reactive," he said. Burger said it was clearly important to address problems in the criminal justice system, but that this should be done as part of a more comprehensive and authoritatively co-ordinated approach that would address the socio-economic and other conditions that encouraged crime. He raised issues including concerns about the capacity of prisons. "Improvements in the capacity and efficiency of the police and courts will certainly result in larger numbers of convictions and prison sentences," he said.

Burger also questioned the impact of a proposed justice system operations team, which would comprise senior detectives, forensic experts and senior prosecutors. "If the idea is to appoint such a team only at national level, its impact will be very limited... It is important that such a team also operate at least on a regional level." Burger also questioned what authority the minister responsible for the new justice system would have to co-ordinate and manage other ministries that played a role in the criminal justice system. "Ministers and other senior officials are notoriously reluctant to comply with 'instructions' or requests from their colleagues. "This is one of the main reasons why the 1996 National Crime Prevention Strategy failed," he said.

This article was originally published on page 10 of The Mercury on October 03, 2007