With only 27% of South Africans trusting the police, coupled with an increase in poverty and unemployment, major crimes in the Grassy Park policing precinct have spiked.
According to renowned criminologist Dr Irvin Kinnes, who spoke at a workshop hosted by Grassy Park Police on Saturday 22 July, crime is shifting dramatically.
“Crime is shifting dramatically, and all crime is going to become digital eventually and the levels of violent crime in the country, in the past year, has increased for all major crimes.”
He added, according to stats for Grassy Park Police Station sexual offences have become a “huge problem”.
“In fact, Grassy Park has reached the top 30 in some crime categories provincially and nationally.”
When it comes to fighting crime a broader approach with the cooperation of police and communities working together was needed, says Kinnes.
“In some communities, like Nyanga and Khayelitsha, they do not want to work with police because the level of trust in police according to the national crime surveys and victims’ surveys is that only 27% of the population trust the police. The public trust in the police is very low.
“We often think that the police must get intelligence from gangs, but in today’s world, the gangs have informants inside the police.
“My own research has begun to show that where the police are supposed to recruit informants inside the gang, the gangs are recruiting informants inside the police.”
He added that the level of professionalism and trust in the police were also in decline.
“You have police officers who swear at members of the public, so the level of professionalism is declining. When people don’t have somewhere to report to, they go to gangsters because they can resolve their problems very quickly.
“Police and members of the community are being recruited by gangs. If you look at one of the biggest murder trials currently taking place, the Modack case, a police officer was also arrested.
“We also have people, in our communities, who are corrupt and have people who come to forums like this to take information back to criminals.”
Nafiz Modack, the alleged underworld kingpin, was arrested last year on several charges, including murder and fraud. He is currently on trial in the Western Cape High Court.
Meanwhile, an increase in firearms and drugs found on the streets of Grassy Park may point to the high levels of poverty and unemployment in the area, says Kinnes.
“In Grassy Park drugs and firearms are prevalent, and the level of firearms being found by police has increased. The fact that police are finding more drugs means there are more drugs and firearms available.
“The level of poverty has increased, and the level of unemployment has increased. Access to the city, to business and transport, all those opportunities are shrinking.”
Kinnes warned when opportunities declined, and government services are withdrawn it creates an opportunity for gangs to step in and take charge.
“When you go to certain parts of the community, for example, the flats in Ottery, you ask yourself when you walk through there: has the government abandoned these communities? You get the sense that there is abandonment.
“When government withdraws services from the community such as schools and housing then other people take over that role. You find that it is the criminal underworld that sees an opportunity in making services available at your own expense,” says Kinnes.
Schools and children have become the new targets for gangs to operate, he added.
“Children have to walk through certain areas to get to school and it’s into gang areas.
“Children are identified based on where they live. They walk with kids who are associated with a gang but do not know that because they are just friends.”
Grassy Park Police Station Commander Col Dawood Laing said the workshop was the first of many to empower the community on ways to tackle crime collectively.
“By holding this workshop today, we want to empower the teachers and community to be able to consult better when people seek help.
“Sometimes our schools have their hands full because they don’t know how to help their learners.”
