A man seated at a table speaking into several microphones with a government banner and South African flag behind him KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli at the Department of Public Works offices in Mayville, Durban. Picture: Supplied.
Durban: Worsening socio-economic conditions, poor service delivery to communities and high unemployment levels were the main drivers of crime in KwaZulu-Natal.
This is according to KZN Premier Thami Ntuli who was speaking about the “trigger factors” creating a conducive environment for continued community mobilisation around service delivery and opportunistic criminal activities during an update on crime stats in Durban yesterday.
Ntuli unpacked the crime stats for the period July to September 2024 compared to July to September 2023.
A total of 63 666 cases were reported and 20 794 persons arrested for community crimes. Contact crime including attempted murders, assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm and common assault increased by 1.5% (+416 cases) and a total of 13 173 arrests were executed.
While murder decreased, a total of 1 428 cases were registered for this period with 558 arrests, which included 71 cases that were multiple murders, (71 cases with 164 deaths).
Ntuli further explained that challenges related to service delivery, including lack of access to water, housing, electricity and poor road infrastructure continued to fuel community frustration that leads to acts of violence.
Other triggers included labour-related instability including poor working conditions as well as instability in the education sector predominantly around the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
Ntuli cited the instability in the business and development sectors due to the construction mafia among other issues.
He said beyond policing, the statistics point to underlying societal issues that need addressing.
“The high rates of crimes against women and children suggest a need for broader societal change, including shifts in cultural and behavioural patterns among men. This involves community engagement and education to foster environments where violence is not tolerated, at all costs.”
Provincial police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who was also at the briefing, said there are many rural areas where faction fighting and family feuds are an issue and contribute to the high mass murder statistics.
Mkhwanazi said there will be a focus on areas like Nongoma, Unyango, and KwaMusi, among others.
According to Mkhwanazi, a lot of crimes were being orchestrated in prisons.
“There’ quite a lot of crimes we're dealing with that are organised by people that are in prison already,” he said, questioning if the prison system is helping.
“It seems to be that they are educated (in prison) to become even more brazen when they come out. What we are doing as police is trying to equip our members with survival skills and equipment that can protect them as they go out there to enforce the law, so that when they face those hardened criminals, they’re able to fight back,” he said.
Mkhwanazi noted that three police officers were killed over the long weekend, two in the Hammarsdale policing area and one in the King Cetshwayo district.
Chad Thomas, an organised crime investigator from IRS Forensic Investigations, said while it is good to see a reduction in certain serious crimes, especially rape and murder, overall crime still remained a massive issue for the residents of KZN. Thomas said many mass murders, especially in the Eastern Cape and KZN, can be attributed to faction fighting and feuds among clans.
“However, we are seeing an increase throughout South Africa where certain mass killings are as a result of turf wars between warring organised crime factions where innocent civilians are being caught up in the crossfire.”
He agreed that certain imprisoned criminals were orchestrating a lot of crime, especially when it comes to extortion and murder for hire.
“Our prisons are overcrowded and there is little to no actual rehabilitation that takes place. Being sentenced to prison is akin to going to a university of crime and the harsh reality is that it's a very predatory environment,” said Thomas.
He added that only a small percentage of criminal cases are actually enrolled for prosecution by the National Prosecuting Authority.
KZN violence monitor Mary de Haas said the so-called faction fights were not new and were a symptom in many cases of the law not working for people, so they took it into their own hands.
She said it was a term used for all sorts of rural struggles, including over land.
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