Tuesday, November 5, 2024

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Maintaining law and order a key part of Solidarity’s plan for SA’s economic recovery

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Law and order must be maintained in order for South Africa’s economy to flourish, as crime stifles business confidence and general confidence in the country, trade union Solidarity maintains in its new Economic Recovery Plan for South Africa.

Solidarity published its recovery plan this week, with enforcement of low and order one of its five top priorities along with infrastructure maintenance and development, lighter and predictable personal and commercial taxation, a stable currency, and a well-educated workforce.

“Nobody develops wealth if there is too great a risk that it will be taken away from them. It does not matter whether it is the state or other people who take wealth away. Crime stifles business confidence and general confidence in the country. The fact that almost nothing has been done to act on the findings of the Zondo Report proves that the government is not serious about fighting corruption,” the report states

There must be consequences for crime, Solidarity believes, as violent crime in particular makes it exceedingly difficult to market the country as a tourist attraction. Businesspeople will then also be reluctant to visit the country.

“No business opportunity is worth one’s life. It’s not even worth the risk. That risk is largely determined by the perception of South Africa that prevails abroad. If the statistics, even if they do not apply to places visited by international businesspeople, prove that the country is a dangerous place, then the country is a dangerous place. The only way to tackle the perception is to tackle the problem.”

Urgent intervention is needed, the trade union maintains, because according to recent statistics only 12% of murders resulted in conviction between 2019 and 2022. Another source made a calculation according to the number of victims, with a conviction rate of 6.8%. “This means that chances are approximately 90% that a murderer will get away with his atrocity in South Africa. It is therefore no wonder that an average of up to 75 people are murdered every day. Such figures are inexcusable and definitely do not promote South Africa’s image as a safe destination.”

South Africa’s sluggishness in prosecuting crimes is also evident in financial crimes, Solidarity pointed out. The Steinhoff saga played out way back in 2017. Sentences were not handed down until 2024, while other people are still being investigated and their legal battle is just beginning. This follows decades of corruption in the company. Corruption is rampant not only in the public sector, but the ability to detect and quickly prosecute corruption in the private sector also appears to be absent, the trade union said.

“Apart from that, more must be done to manage prisons so that people can adjust to mainstream society after release. It is almost unthinkable to accommodate people for the duration of their sentence in a violent environment, without any consideration for human dignity, and then to release them and expect them to want to improve the free society. Prisons must be places where people learn skills, work-oriented as well as social, and where they are prepared for a better life. The current prison system’s mere appearance makes prisoners used to a horrible existence rather than instilling any hope in them that they can achieve something better.”

As far as fighting crime is concerned, Solidarity believes it is necessary to maintain a good balance between a well-functioning police service that focuses on community safety, and a more militarised force that deals with, for example, illegal miners and gang violence. “Unfortunately, the South African reality is that the police service cannot fully demilitarise and still expect to deal with serious public violence and established violent criminals.”

The trade union added that where decay has such adverse outcomes as in the police and justice system, the education system and the country’s transport system, urgent intervention is needed. “One cannot wait too long, and it would be insane to expect the same people who caused the decay to fix it. One way to achieve this is to establish a special priority department in the treasury, which straightens out critical sectors within an 18-month period. The department must have one task per period, which must be completed by the end of that period. Priorities for the first five years should be crime, education and transport.”

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