It provides a brief historical background of and insight into violence and crime in South Africa describes the nature and the extent of violent crime in South Africa explains the risk factors of crime victimisation and violence in South Africa and illustrates South Africans’ perceptions and experiences of crime and violence. Why is violent crime so prevalent in South Africa? This chapter provides some insight into the violent characteristics of crime victimisation in South Africa. Empirical evidence shows that the extent of violence and crime in South Africa is greater than the extent of violence and crime generally experienced globally. The nature and the extent of crime and violence in the country not only influence citizens’ well-being but also have an overwhelming effect on the social structure of communities. Commentators frequently report on the extreme prevalence of violent crime in South Africa and often label the country as one of the most violent in the world. Crime and violence have become part of daily life for many people living in South Africa. Research on the broad spectrum of crime and violence in South Africa has captured the imagination of many researchers internationally.
Excessive crime rates cause wide-reaching feelings of anxiety and fear of crime and associated violence among citizens. The topic of crime and violence often dominates discussions about South Africa. These themes are discussed in relation to the literature, and several recommendations are proffered. The topic of police encounters included the sub-themes of sudden, unannounced police sweeps, ghettos, bribery and the non-deterrence of arrests. Three themes were developed from the participants’ responses: police encounters, ecstasy and the psychosocial consequences of drug use, such as the psychological effects, development of criminality, disruption of people’s lifestyles and collapse of familial relationships. Thirty-eight PWUDs (mean age = 38 SD = 10.40) were purposively sampled from six drug rehabilitation centres from three regions in Ghana. This phenomenological study used semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of PWUDs with the police.
However, there is a dearth of literature on police encounters with PWUDs in African countries, such as Ghana. Scholars have explored and compared the experiences of people who use drugs (PWUDs), including encounters with the criminal justice system. Campaigning for novel pragmatic and coordinated community and government responses to the broader lack of safety and security in the country, the SJC focuses on the introduction and development of basic infrastructure and services as a means of reducing crime. Furthermore, in order to move the debate on crime in South Africa into a more productive direction, we also describe the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) – a relatively new community based organisation that aims to mobilise communities around improving safety and security for all in South Africa, regardless of race or income.
We are concerned that painting whites as the primary victims of South Africa's social ills is unproductive, ungenerous and potentially hampers the appropriate distribution of resources to alleviate crime. In this article we show the flaws in Huntley's argument by presenting evidence from several sources that demonstrate that black and poor people are disproportionately the victims of violent crime in South Africa. The decision was generally condemned, but it did receive support from various groups and individuals including Afriforum, the Freedom Front and James Myburgh (editor of Politicsweb). Brandon Huntley was granted asylum in Canada earlier this year based on the argument that whites are disproportionately affected by crime in South Africa.
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