Township crime ‘not new phenomenon’

Experts say the recent crime crisis in townships and taverns is not a new phenomenon.

July has been the bloodiest month this year after 16 people were shot dead in Soweto, four in Pietermaritzburg and two in Katlehong over one weekend.

Over the past weekend, five people were shot dead in two separate incidents in Tembelihle informal settlement and six were killed in an armed robbery in Alexandra on Thursday.

The crime statistics for the fourth quarter 2021-2022 revealed townships such as Mamelodi, Alexandra and Tembisa recorded violent crimes such as murder and rape during the period.

Crezane Bosch, Democratic Alliance Gauteng spokesperson for community safety, said it was evident the majority of police stations were under-resourced, with a lack of vehicles for visible policing during the party’s 100-day police watch campaign.

“This affects the morale and negatively impacts the performance of the officers. In places like Ga-Rankuwa, police were forced to work without electricity for almost a year. Other stations faced sewage leaks inside the buildings, which were health and occupational risks,” she said.

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Bosch added there was not always a good working relationship between the police and residents.

Prof Witness Maluleke, rural criminologist from the University of Limpopo, said this crisis was not new. “Violent crimes have been manifesting in different forms and normalised across townships,” he said.

He said the subculture of violence and criminality as portrayed by the media was a common practice but remained undocumented, sometimes due to where it happened.

“Organised crime syndicates are infiltrating our townships to lure young people to join various crime webs stemming from socioeconomic conditions, such as high levels of poverty, unemployment and social exclusion.”

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Maluleke said alcohol abuse or consumption by young people was also used as a new hobby and contributed to the increasing schedule 1 offences and violent crimes like murder, attempted murder, assault and rape.

He said a new multidisciplinary approach was needed to save South Africa.

A criminologist at the University of Pretoria, Dr Lufuno Sadiki, said because the media widely covered the recent shootings, it may have created the impression that crime has got out of hand.

“But these were things have been happening,” he said, adding that since 1994, SA has been struggling with visible policing in township areas.