There is endless talk of crime in South Africa and absolutely no one is untouched by it. Your home, your child’s school, the street you walk along, these are all potential crime scenes – and Grahamstown is by no means an exception.
There is endless talk of crime in South Africa and absolutely no one is untouched by it. Your home, your child’s school, the street you walk along, these are all potential crime scenes – and Grahamstown is by no means an exception.
The causes of the high crime rate in Grahamstown, according to residents of Extensions 6 to 9, are poverty, alcohol, drugs and boredom.
When asked about possible solutions, their answer is almost unanimous: more police are needed to patrol taverns and streets at night, and more jobs need to be created by the government.
Although our flawed social system is indeed a contributing factor to the high crime rate, what most perpetuates crime is silence.
The majority of crimes are not reported either because the victims are scared of the perpetrators or because the criminals are family members or friends.
To betray someone in a community that is tightly knit means you are putting your own life in danger. The safest bet, according to many residents, is to befriend the criminals and keep your mouth shut.
The list of criminal activities that the residents of the township face daily is extensive. The most common is burglaries, which is made particularly easy by RDP housing where some of the houses can be opened by the same key.
Foreigner national citizens such as Pakistani shop owners, are also easy targets for crime because they are considered outsiders.
They have no one to talk to, because no one will listen. Violent crimes like rape and murder are also rife, and even if you have been stabbed, calling the police means waiting several hours bleeding on the roadside.
Perpetrators of crimes like these have been caught, but so many of them are back on the street in a very short time that victims would rather not report them than suffer the consequences of speaking out.
For many people living in the township, their livestock is their livelihood. Jealousies and disputes frequently lead to theft or violence of these assets. Donkeys are often beaten, burnt with boiling water or stabbed.
In one particularly gruesome case, a broken beer bottle was shoved all the way up a donkey’s anus. The owners retaliate with more violence towards animals and no-one reports these crimes to the authorities.
Stock theft is also a huge problem and victims will often find just the head and skin of their cow or goat left behind because the perpetrators have taken the meat to sell.
The cruelty is terrible, but when no people will speak out for themselves, who will give a voice to the animals?
The media strives to be an accurate reflection of events, to represent all people fairly and equally and to give voice to marginalised groups.
Yet time and again, the voices of township residents are not heard in the local media. Their fear stops them from reporting crime but the small percentage of crimes that are reported are still so extensive that police cannot keep up with letting the media know.
Sadly, because crime is so commonplace, it is not even considered newsworthy anymore. Stopping crime will take more than educating people, alleviating poverty and patrolling the taverns.
Resources in the community like the Egazini Outreach Project and the Community Policing Forum must be made accessible to everyone.
People must begin to vocalise their thoughts and experiences and by doing so, shake off the culture of fear. Positive community involvement will have a new and different effect and the criminals will be the ones who are silenced.
But most importantly, the community must do this together, because without unity their voices cannot be heard.
