Criminalidad Sudáfrica.

Como parte del trabajo que va a ser necesario para la película que estamos viendo en Ciudadanía aporto los siguientes datos.

Edito: parece que no es tan sencillo lo que pretendía en un principio. Ya me encargaré de explicar en clase la idea que quiero transmitir. Por ahora aporto datos.

La siguiente información está sacada de aquí.

Police statistics even if they do not show the full extent of any crime are often useful in determining trends over long periods of time.
The graphs below (Figures 3—7) show the development of a range of crime types as reflected by police statistics since 1980. They include the latest data released by the Crime Information Management Centre of the SAPS reflecting crime levels until December 1997.

The murder figures — generally considered to be accurate — show dramatic increases from the late 1980s but sustained declines since 1994.



Figure 3 Murder

Source: SAPS Crime Information Management Centre


Robbery with aggravating circumstances, which includes hijacking, cash in transit heists and bank robberies, also shows high levels of growth between 1988 and 1993. Since then, this category of crime has shown real declines to 1996, with a slight increase during 1997. It should be noted that specific data for hijacking, cash in transit heists and bank robberies have only been recorded as distinct from other aggrevated robberies since 1996. Thus, a long term trend cannot yet be determined for these crimes.

Figure 4 Robbery
Source: SAPS Crime Information Management Centre


Motor vehicle theft shows a steady increase from 1985. The number of cars stolen increased dramatically between from 1992 to peak in 1994. There has however been a sustained reduction since 1994, although a slight increase was recorded during 1997.


Figure 5 Car theft
Source: SAPS Crime Information Management Centre


The reporting of rape and attempted rape cases to the police have shown a steady increase from 1986, followed by a dramatic increase from 1993. While the reporting of the crime continues to increase the rate at which it does so has been less pronounced from 1995. The increase in rape must be attributable to both real as well as a recorded increases in the crime. A greater awareness among women of the issue as well as some improvements at police station level which facilitate reporting have contributed to the increase. Despite the greater propensity to report, however, it is likely that a significant proportion of rape cases remain unrecorded in police statistics.


Figure 6 Rape
Source: SAPS Crime Information Management Centre


Assault with attempt to do grievous bodily harm (or serious assault) has also increased dramatically. As in the case of rape the most dramatic increases occurred between 1993 and 1994. While the reporting of serious assault continues to increase, the upward trend is not as marked as before. The reporting of serious assault (as in the case of rape) does not reflect the true extent of the crime.

Figure 7 Assault
Source: SAPS Crime Information Management Centre

A brief overview of crime trends since 1980 suggests that increases relate to some extent to the transition to democracy in the country. Indeed, elsewhere high levels of crime have often accompanied transition from authoritarian to democratic rule. This is not to say that crime is necessarily a feature of democracy. Instead, dramatic changes in societies which move from authoritarian to democratic governance often weaken state and social controls, generating increased levels of crime.
International evidence suggests however that states in transition to democracy are seldom immediately able to counter crime. On the one hand, authoritarian governance is usually accompanied by policing completely inappropriate for a democratic environment. On the other hand, the new state is often faced with the dilemma that it is required to govern an (often unstable) new society with the same instruments which were used to enforce authoritarian rule.
If such a broad explanation provides some insights into the causes and failure to manage crime, what will be the likely future development of crime trends in South Africa? One of three scenarios is possible:

Crime will continue to increase at current levels, peaking in five to ten years.

Crime will stabilise and then decrease over the next five to ten years to pre-1990 levels.

Crime will stabilise at high levels and begin to slowly decline over the next decade.

Both the South African experience and evidence from other societies in transition suggests that the last scenario may be the most likely. The consolidation of democracy in South Africa is leading towards stabilised crime levels. But the danger is that unacceptably high levels of crime will remain a permanent feature, unless adequate measures are taken.
Short of massive social and economic disruption, crime will not increase at the same rate after the core period — in South Africa from 1985 to 1995 — of the political transition. Stabilisation is thus probably not the result of more aggressive policing or a more efficient system of criminal justice. Indeed, recent evidence suggests that a critical component of this system, investigations and prosecutions, is weakening and that fewer people are being convicted of crimes in courts.
Reducing (or stabilising) crime in transitional societies therefore does not only entail policing and criminal justice interventions. What is required are new forms of governance and social control. These cannot be developed overnight and will be closely related to the strength of new institutions, formed as democracy consolidates in the post-apartheid order.
Mark Shaw,
Institute for Security Studies

 

• Algunos datos de este artículo. Copio la conclusión y la afirmación principal.

South African Murders between 1990 to 2009 are in excess of 370,000 by the most conservative estimates.

CONCLUSION

Now I ask you: Just how “peaceful” and “democratic” and “successful” do you think the new non-apartheid government has been for its people? Please keep in mind that the deaths are generally disproportionately slanted towards the non-white population by representation. In other words, the biggest number of victims are non-white and the biggest number of perpetrators are also non-white, both groups being over-represented for their representation as a race in the country.

 

• En este artículo plantean por qué. Copio aquí la conclusión (no hay por qué estar de acuerdo con ella. Viendo la fuente, no es de extrañar :):

“Conclusion

It is clear from this study that violent crime has continued to climb faster than any other category of crime in the New South Africa. The only apparent category of violent crime that is in decline is murder. However, the Medical Research Council, the Department of Home Affairs and Interpol all seem to agree that South Africa’s murder rate is far higher than the official statistics show. Nevertheless, regardless of what may be the reasons for this apparent under-reporting, South Africa has earned the title of the "crime capital of the world" – especially as regards violent crime. While crime rates are increasing, conviction rates are decreasing (or certainly not keeping pace), thus adding to the South Africa’s "culture of violence". Although explanations are offered to explain this phenomenon of violence in the New "liberated and peaceful" South Africa, they appear to be inadequate. Perhaps it should be argued for the reinstatement of the death penalty. While the people on the ground would support such a call, their desires are suppressed by the Constitution and a ruling elite averse to its reinstatement.”

• De la Wikipedia: Crime in South Africa

“Crime is a prominent issue in South Africa. South Africa has a high rate of murders, assaults, rapes, and other crimes compared to most countries. Many emigrants from South Africa state that crime was a big factor in their decision to leave.^[1]”

Homicides per 100,000^[12]

Para compararlos con los de otros países, podemos ver la siguiente tabla:

Tasa de Homicidios por 100 mil habitantes en el Mundo

Figure 5: Number of murders recorded per 100 000 of the population, 1998