Crimes of all kinds is a reality that most African countries face every day. South Africa is one of the most hit countries in terms of high crime rate. A high level of crime reduces economic development in South Africa because it slows down economic activities. This article highlights the 6 ways of dealing with crimes in South Africa.
Dealing with crimes in South Africa
Reducing possession of harmful equipment
Reducing possession of harmful equipment like guns has a higher potential of reducing the crime rate in the country. This is where there are no guns, there will be no gun deaths. It is important to find individuals in possession of such weapons and turn them into the authorities. The South African government should, therefore, focus on controlling the flow of illegal guns in the country.
Shifting the focus from poverty to crimes
Putting more emphasis on poverty as the main problem in achieving development is a misleading strategy. South Africans should rather focus on developing strategies that deal with crimes. Countries that focus more on poverty than crimes are more violent and so is South Africa. Because of this, there is a need for the South African government to focus on determining factors that leads to high crime rates in the country.
Address inequalities
Economic inequality in South Africa is one of the major causes of most crimes. Unequal distribution of public resources makes other people rich and others poor. To live a better life, most youths engage in armed robberies and other crimes to fulfill their economic needs.
Because of this, the government should focus on addressing inequalities in access to public facilities, income distribution and resource allocation. Addressing economic inequality has greater chances of reducing crimes in South Africa.
Empowering the youth on economic opportunities
Because the main cause of crimes in South Africa is economic dissatisfaction, economic empowerment can help reduce crimes among youth. The government should organize local empowerment programs for. the youth. This will help because the youth will not have much time to commit crimes.
Empowering the youth on substance abuse can also reduce alcohol-related crimes.
Drug Abuse control
Because drug abuse is directly linked to violence, controlling drug in-take among citizens can help reduce crimes. A drunk person is likely to be violent and cause harm to a person. The government should come up with measures to help in supplying drugs in the countries.
In South Africa, around a third of all murder crimes occur during the weekend. Because of this, most murder victims during weekends are mostly drug abusers.
Focus on hotspots
In South Africa, murders occur mostly in 4 provinces namely KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Eastern Cape, and Western Cape. Targeting these areas by the police can help reduce the crime rate. It is also known that most murders take place between Fridays to Sundays mostly from 6 pm to 8 am. The police should use this information to target the most affected areas. This too has a higher potential of reducing murder and other crimes.
More:
- 24 ways to reduce crime in the world’s most violent cities
- Reducing violent crime in South Africa
- Police strategy to reduce violent crime in South Africa could work. Here’s how