Defeating inequality and planning for rapid urbanisation crucial for safety in SA cities

In order to create safer cities, governance structures need to look beyond policing and take an integrated approach that recognises the social and structural drivers of crime and violence.

This was the key message of the SA Safer Cities Network which launched its third report on urban safety at the Metropolitan Centre building in Johannesburg on Thursday.

The launch, attended by Deputy Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Andries Nel and Johannesburg member of the mayoral committee for public safety Michael Sun, as well as representatives of the eight metros that make up the Cities Network, called on cities to recognise the role that inequality plays in safety.

Furthermore, according to the report, safety promotion strategies and interventions must be evidence-based to have a sustainable impact.

The report identified 11 social and structural drivers of crime in the cities — rapid population growth, social incoherence/family disruption, poverty, income inequality, youth unemployment, deprivation of services, informal housing, infrastructure, school conditions, violence, and last, access to alcohol, drugs and firearms.

Despite ranking first among the cities for most urbanisation factors (rapid population growth and social incoherence) Johannesburg performs relatively well for the objective indicators of crime. This may be in part because it ranks number one for police activity. Relative to other cities, robbery is Johannesburg’s key crime problem, with 435 cases reported per 100,000 people, followed by assault at 295 cases per 100,000.

Cape Town performs well compared to the other cities in terms of poverty, income inequality and youth unemployment, but has the highest rates of murder (69 murders per 100,000), robbery (484 per 100,000) and property-related crimes (1,475 per 100,000). Therefore, understandably, Cape Town residents reported experiencing more crime/violence and feeling more unsafe compared with residents in other cities. They are also the second-least satisfied with law enforcement, after residents of Buffalo City.

The 2016/17 report suggested that what might be driving the increase of crime in Cape Town is the disproportionate access to alcohol, drugs and firearms, which is more than double that of other cities.

Nel said it is key to take note where most of the murders in Cape Town occur — in townships. He said this was another remnant of apartheid.

Ekurhuleni did relatively well compared with other cities. It has the lowest rate of property-related crime and the highest percentage (66%) of residents who are satisfied with law enforcement. Its challenges lie in urbanisation factors, such as rapid population growth (which is at a similar level to Cape Town), as well as income inequality and informal housing.

Among the nine cities, Ekurhuleni is ranked second (after Johannesburg) for income inequality at 0.651 per 100,000 and second (after Buffalo City) for informal housing, which makes up 19% of the housing there.

Tshwane has the lowest rates of contact crimes — murder (17 per 100,000), assault (207 per 100,000) and sexual offences (58 per 100,000) of all the nine cities — but has fairly high levels of property-related crime (coming third after Cape Town and Buffalo City) with 1,074 incidences per 100,000.

Compared to the other cities, residents of Tshwane feel the safest, but are not correspondingly satisfied with law enforcement — only 50% are satisfied, which is a similar level to satisfaction with law enforcement in Cape Town (49%).

Researcher for the Cities Network Siphelele Ngobese stressed the need for this data as it would result in targeted strategies in the effort to combat violence and crime in cities. Furthermore, she said the research can be used “as a tool for advocacy” in this regard.

One of the findings of the report was that, nationally, there has been an increase in violent crimes such as robbery at residential homes, as well as carjackings. According to the report, failures of policing, with crime intelligence operations that are failing to dismantle organised criminal networks and police who are poorly equipped to catch perpetrators, could be one of the reasons for this.

Ngobese said the increases in violent crimes could also be a result of a phenomenon known as “target hardening”. Essentially, increased security, such as a higher wall around your home, increases the desire of someone to commit a crime and to do so more aggressively. She said that this was proof that security doesn’t necessarily equate to safety.

Nel said rapid urbanisation — two-thirds of South Africans now live in urban areas — is a huge factor in high crime rates in South African cities. He said that “there is a commitment in our national development plan to pursue evidence-based policies. And this report helps us to do exactly that”.

Nazira Cachalia, manager of the City of Joburg’s Safety Programme, said the report is very important for the work they do as it “begins to help cities plan financially (with regard to implementing safety and security measures), as this data is released before the financial year” in contrast to official police crime statistics that are released during the financial year.

Cachalia also stressed that collaborative efforts from provincial and national counterparts would go a long way in assisting cities to create a safer environment.

Tshwane Metro Police Department director Aline Birkenstock offered an alternative to rapid urbanisation, saying that government should look at improving rural areas so that they are on a par with urban areas.

However, Nel countered that “no amount of rural development will stop urban migration” as it is something that has been around for centuries, and it is not unique to South Africa.

Ekurhuleni Deputy Police Chief Goodman Mzolo stressed the need to focus on safety in the process of town planning. He said that when structures such as malls are built, the open spaces that surround the structure “are left unlit and usually surrounded by trees”, but are neglected as a possible safety hazard. DM