Murder rate should shock residents
It is clear our policing, in its current state is ineffective, to say the least.
Michael Waters, former MP writes:
Benoni has the 10th highest murder rate in the world, with 119 people being murdered during the 2021/22 financial year.
When one calculates the number of murders per 100 000 inhabitants, Benoni has a murder rate of 67.42.
When one compares this rate to the recently released Statista report of the most dangerous cities in the world by murder rate, Benoni is ranked ninth, just behind Fortaleza in Brazil!
The figure of 119 murders is across the police stations serving Benoni (Actonville, Benoni and Crystal Park police stations). It is hard to believe that Benoni would have such a high murder rate.
Throughout the entire Ekurhuleni metro a total of 1 385 murders were recorded during the same period. With a murder rate of 43.57 per 100 000 inhabitants our metro is the fortieth most dangerous place to live in the world.
Four people are murdered each day within Ekurhuleni.
It is obvious that the current centralised policing system is simply not working.
International evidence shows that a devolved, well-trained and resourced police is the best way to combat crime.
Policing needs to adjust to local factors and conditions, not be set in stone by a bureaucrat sitting in Pretoria.
It is high time that the government concede that keeping the police centralised is failing all of us.
What we need is accountability, which can only happen through decentralisation.
It is unacceptable that residents have to live in fear of their lives simply because of the stubborn refusal to admit that the government is losing the fight against crime.
The flexibility needed to fight crime is simply not there.
There is a stark contrast between areas within Ekurhuleni. Edenvale has the lowest murder rate, with 6.08 per 100 000 residents.
Why is it that Benoni has a murder rate nearly 10 times higher than Edenvale?
It is a disgrace that so many cities and towns have murder rates that place them within the top 50.
We cannot continue with business as usual as this is failing. We need a radical rethink of how the police work in South Africa.
Ekurhuleni should be able to take over the policing functions seated in Pretoria, because the best knowledge on the number of police officers needed, training and deployment of officers exist at a local level.
The budget for this should be transferred to councils directly from the national government.
Crime differs from area to area, and we need a police service that is not only reactive but agile in its strategy to fight crime.
The National Policing Department should have an oversight role where they inspect police stations and training colleges to ensure that minimum standards are met and maintained.
Robert Peel said, “The effectiveness of policing will be judged by the absence of crime and disorder.”
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