NEDBANK ISS. Crime Index. Volume Number 6, November - December

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1 NEDBANK ISS Crime Index Volume Number 6, November - December Table of Contents Measuring Progress: Assessing the Criminal Justice System... 1 Policing and Prevention: Working for a Safer South Africa... 5 Putting the National Anti- Corruption Agenda to Work Letting the private sector off the hook? Dealing with Offenders Measuring Progress: Assessing the Criminal Justice System This year-end issue of the Nedcor-ISS Crime Index has been designed as an overview of key areas in the crime prevention debate: information, crime prevention, policing, corruption and criminal offenders. Around each of these themes current programmes, initiatives, legislation and policy are assessed. The purpose of this issue of the Index is to present our readers with a review of current issues around crime prevention in South Africa and also to offer some ways in which these programmes may be monitored and evaluated. Police statistics are commonly used to determine whether crime is under control. These figures are a harsh reminder of society s ills, but should be used with caution to reflect performance in the criminal justice system. Mechanisms to monitor and assess police performance are now being developed. The challenge for 1999 will be to do the same for other departments and crime prevention agencies. This should include taking public sentiment on the issue more seriously. The availability of crime information has improved dramatically in South Africa since The South African Police Service (SAPS) releases comprehensive statistics every quarter for each police station in the country, rivalling the world s best police agencies. In line with international trends, these data illustrate the volume of crime, crime rates per unit of the population, and details of 20 crime types. Victim surveys conducted by the Institute for Security Studies, along with the national victim survey recently completed by the Department for Safety and Security and Statistics SA, provide essential supplementary information. The challenge is accurately interpreting the data and knowing its limitations. What crime statistics show Crime levels are stabilising according to the latest SAPS quarterly crime report a

2 conclusion reached in all official crime analyses over the past two years. It would be more accurate to say that since 1994 there has been no change in South Africa s very high levels of crime. Since data prior to this period is regarded as unreliable, it is difficult to tell exactly when crime levels began their ascent (see Nedcor/ISS Crime Index, The Problem with Police Statistics, Vol 2, No 3, p. 11). As a result, identifying a stabilisation is difficult. Analyses of the latest police statistics (to June 1998) indicate that the only crime which is clearly decreasing is murder (Figure 1). Although a downward trend is also discernible for burglaries of business premises, records of this offence are heavily influenced by reporting tendencies. For other serious crime types such as attempted murder, car theft, housebreaking, assault with grievous bodily harm and robbery with aggravating circumstances, trends are either impossible to identify (Figure 2 car theft, Figure 3 attempted murder, Figure 4 housebreaking). Although aggravated robbery has decreased (Figure 5), the rise in 1998 could signal a change in this trend in future. Figure 1 Murder (Jan-June ) Figure 2 Car theft (Jan-June ) Figure 3 Attempted murder (Jan-June )

3 Figure 4 Housebreaking (Jan-June ) circumstances Figure 5 Robbery with aggravating (Jan-Jun ) This means that for most of the serious crimes, it is in fact too soon to say with confidence that crime rates are levelling-off or stabilising. The troughs and peaks from one year to the next make it difficult to rule out possible increases in some crime rates in coming years. Linking changes in these statistics to crime combating activities is problematic for several reasons. The absence of clear trends since 1994 makes attributing fluctuations to specific activities of the police, courts or other crime reduction efforts difficult. In any event, crime statistics are more likely to correspond with societal indicators such as inequality, unemployment, education and youthfulness than with police performance, crime prevention, or prison policy. In South Africa, high crime rates since 1990 have been attributed to the transition process. It has been argued that this, more than police and crime prevention activity, has shaped subsequent crime trends. Also, since crime patterns vary from place to place, analyses to determine the effect of crime reduction programmes should focus on specific geographical areas and time frames that correspond with the scope of activity under review. But even then, isolating direct causal relationships between criminal events and other variables, such as a particular policing operation, is hard. The commission of a crime depends on many diverse factors ranging from an individual s socialisation to a change in the weather. And since many of these causal factors fall outside the scope of police action, links are hard to confirm. Official crime statistics are also limited to what is reported by the public and recorded by the police (see Nedcor/ISS Crime Index, Reporting Crime to the Police, Vol 2, No 4, p. 12). In countries like the UK, records are kept of reported as well as recorded offences. In South Africa, police data reflect only those cases which result in a docket being opened. Unofficial accounts abound of police persuading complainants that a crime does not warrant recording. Police figures are also regarded with a great deal of scepticism by the public (see Nedcor/ISS Crime Index, The Problem with Police Statistics, Vol 2, No 3, p. 11) which limits their use in demonstrating success. Crime statistics alone cannot be used for assessing the performance of the criminal justice system. Other measures which focus on the activities of the police, courts and prisons are necessary, but based on comparative experience, not infallible. In South Africa, the challenge

4 for 1999 will be mastering the controversial art of measuring performance in the criminal justice system. Equally important will be accessing the required data without overburdening already strained management systems. Evaluating police, courts and prisons Common measures used to assess police performance are clearance rates (number of cases closed by the police through, for example, withdrawals or court acceptance, as a ratio of reported cases), arrest rates (number of arrests as a ratio of recorded cases) and attrition rates (number of arrests that lead to convictions). In South Africa, indicators relating to arrests can only be manually calculated since this information is not captured by the police database. Court performance is usually measured using conviction rates (number of convictions as a ratio of cases to court). Assessments of prisons include examining recidivism (repeat offending), and in South Africa, levels of overcrowding, the number of escapes and deaths in custody. Many of these measures are problematic and there is little consensus on which to use and what they show. Performance indicators should match specified goals. But criminal justice agencies like the police and prisons have multiple and often conflicting goals which make allocating budgets, prioritising activities and measuring outcomes, difficult. Police activity ranges from responding to noisy neighbours to tracking syndicates and serial killers. Prisons must reduce the likelihood of inmates returning, while at the same time punishing offenders for the crimes they have committed. Balancing these goals often depends on prevailing public opinion. But public opinion is far more useful for assessing achievements than for shaping policy. Victim surveys have shown that fear of crime is high and levels of confidence in the police are low. In particular, satisfaction with police service delivery at station level is poor. Government has shown little regard for such perceptions. As the clients of the police, courts, prisons and crime prevention programmes, public opinion must be taken seriously. Antoinette Louw, Institute for Security Studies

5 Policing and Prevention: Working for a Safer South Africa During 1998, broad debates on policy responses to crime have largely been resolved in the areas of policing and crime prevention. The same cannot however be said for policy pertaining to courts, sentencing and prisons. In these departments, data is still either unavailable or hard to access which makes identifying problems and responding to them difficult. Policy debates and developments in these areas will be the hot items in the criminal justice system to watch for in Having received more of the attention and perhaps more of the blame than the other departments such as Justice, Welfare and Correctional Services, Safety and Security has responded comparatively well. The White Paper has been finalised (see Nedcor/ISS Crime Index, In Service of Safety? The White Paper on Safety and Security, Vol 2, No 3, p. 16) and the NCPS has refined its areas of activity to reflect what is needed and what is possible. The key areas that have been identified for action in 1999 by these processes are improving police service delivery, detection and visible policing, along with social crime prevention. The latter will require partnerships between government and civil society to succeed. Responsibility for implementation now rests with local government. Activity in several of these priority areas has already begun and this issue of the Crime Index assesses these projects: The NCPS represents the framework for social crime prevention. Two years and many projects down the line, the progress of the strategy has remained largely outside the public arena. Public awareness and participation is key to crime prevention, as is measuring the success of any project. Some perceptions on the criminal justice system and crime prevention, and who the public hold responsible, point to key challenges for the NCPS and similar efforts in Partnerships are critical for both policing and crime prevention to succeed. Business Against Crime has led the way in South Africa for establishing and maintaining partnerships. Developing good practice and keeping projects small and simple are also key tools for reducing crime. Programme Johannesburg, which aims to develop a model for improving policing style and capacity to tackle crime, takes on many of the challenges of policing in South Africa. Also at the local level, the case study of Safer Cities: Greater Johannesburg shows what local crime prevention can achieve, despite limited resources, skills and capacity. The areas chosen for review in this Index represent the spectrum of what constitutes crime reduction. Therefore, elements such as policing, partnerships, local safety strategies and the public perspective are not mutually exclusive, and together represent what it will take to reduce crime. The National Crime Prevention Strategy: From Concept to Practice Developed as a concept in 1995, the National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) was launched in May 1996 by the South African government. A long-term, multidepartmental initiative, the staff of the NCPS have been engaged in the past two years in implementing pilot projects and defining parameters for new projects. The challenge in 1999 will be to increase public awareness and support for the programme, as well as

6 the support of governmental structures at all levels. The NCPS is run by a number of government bodies, led by the Secretariat for Safety and Security. An amount was allocated from the RDP fund to launch it, but all future funding will be from departments own budgets. It began with 14 initial projects, some focusing on areas which were in Need of immediate attention (for example, the criminal justice system) while others were developed to address crime prevention (for example, victim empowerment). The largest project has been the Integrated Criminal Justice System, which is being developed with assistance from Business Against Crime (see Business Against Crime: Partnerships for Crime Prevention in this section). Other initial projects include border control, firearms, environmental design, vehicle crime and corruption. Many of these projects also have subissues. For example, the border control project has 19 on-going activities while the projects on streamlining the criminal justice system encompass victim empowerment, organised crime, corruption, commercial crime, gangs and domestic violence. There is sometimes a perception that the NCPS is only focusing on issues which deal with property crimes: vehicle theft, border control, and commercial crime, for example. In fact, the NCPS projects were chosen to impact on violent crime: the people who are killed or injured during vehicle theft and those who are killed or injured by the firearms used in crime. Focus areas of the NCPS The NCPS strategy is based on a four pillar framework and this remains the guideline around which the NCPS operates. The pillars are: Criminal Justice Process Environmental Design Public Values and Education Transnational Crime Current areas for new projects around social crime prevention and situational crime prevention. Social crime prevention will focus on the cycle of violence that begins with young children and continues into adulthood. Efforts to develop projects with the departments of Health and Education are underway to reach young children in schools and at home and youth, especially adolescent males. The strategy will be taken to the public, which must take responsibility for the interventions needed to break the culture of violence. Situational crime prevention encompasses planning safer areas, through improved access and lighting for example, but also includes a manual for local crime prevention and the safer cities project (see Johannesburg Safer Cities: Taking on Local Crime Prevention in this section). The departments of Safety and Security, Welfare, Correctional Services and Justice have the primary responsibility for the NCPS. It has begun to implement an internal process of project monitoring. Being a innovative effort in 1996, the NCPS has faced a steep learning curve and is only now at a stage to reassess the activities of the past 18 months and begin the wider implementation of initial pilot projects. Areas that remain to be improved include the conceptualisation of new projects, time frames and funding. The NCPS was initially given R500 million in 1996 to be spent over four years. To date, R200 million has been spent in establishing the first 14 projects. Funding for short-term activities is being allocated from discretionary funds and, in some cases, from foreign donors. Having developed from a conceptual framework, the NCPS now finds itself with projects ready for implementation but without funds, given the government budget cycle. This has been recognised as a serious problem and efforts are underway to secure medium to long-term project funds. What lies ahead? The NCPS has reached an important stage in its development with the completion of pilot projects and the need to assess these and put them into practice in other areas. The

7 challenges faced by the NCPS are daunting: the complexity of the issues around crime prevention; the need for complex multi-departmental and national/provincial/local interactions and co-operation; adequate funding to ensure that projects may be successfully implemented; and a system of reporting and monitoring that will allow the projects of the NCPS to be internally and externally evaluated. Having been designed as an interdepartmental strategy much work has been done to encourage the departments within the criminal justice system to work with the strategy. However these departments are also plagued with the common problems of little money and few spare personnel. Likewise, in its interactions with provincial governments, the NCPS has found that crime prevention does not necessarily emerge as a priority area for these structures and is working to find means of collaborating on issues which are of highest concern for particular provinces and local authorities. In order for the NCPS to succeed, it must also have the awareness and support of the citizens of South Africa. A common theme runs throughout the issues covered in this yearend issue of the Crime Index: projects undertaken to help the public require public support to succeed. Crime Prevention and the Criminal Justice System: Studying the Free State The criminal justice system (CJS) should be in line with the constitution, providing fair and equal access to justice and guaranteeing the dignity, rights and security of individuals and communities regardless of race, gender or any other difference. Central to meeting these requirements is the participation of people in policy making and policy implementation in the CJS. The study results presented here focus on the ways and contexts in which three different Free State communities1 conceptualised the criminal justice system in accordance with their existing beliefs, attitudes and experiences.2 Perceptions of the CJS were informed by participants place of residence and population group. For example, in rural areas the formal system, which includes the police, as well as community structures, which includes the family and tribal chiefs, were perceived to be part of the CJS. In urban areas community policing forums, rather than the family and tribal chiefs, were perceived as part of the system. In Bloemfontein, the Welfare Department was regarded as an important part of the criminal justice system while the Department of Correctional Services was seldom included. Flaws in the criminal justice system The study findings show an overall lack of trust in the CJS. It was perceived to be inefficient and ineffective in dealing with crime and was seen as being lenient towards perpetrators (for example, court sentences were incommensurate with the seriousness of the crimes) while being insensitive towards victims, especially women. The inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the system were seen as increasing trauma for victims and delaying court action. Some participants perceived the police, the gateway to the CJS, as being prone to abuses of power and miscarriage of justice. Some of the participants who were members of the police service themselves cited corruption within the CJS as a serious flaw in the system. This problem, rooted in the country s apartheid past, was identified as continuing to plague the new democracy. The CJS was generally deemed to be inaccessible to women as they were not given the assistance they sought and were sometimes harassed by the police. A particular bias against rural women was noted by some respondents. Women s scant knowledge of procedures for approaching the CJS for assistance further limited their access to it. Embarrassment in talking about gender crimes and seeing them as a private matter, in addition to ineffective punishment of offenders, were seen as the main reasons for the underreporting of these

8 crimes. Biases based on race, class, locality and sex were seen as another weakness of the CJS. For example, blacks, township and squatter camp residents, and those who had a peripheral position in the community felt they were either neglected or discriminated against by the police and the courts. Furthermore, sentences meted out for crimes committed against whites were perceived to be more severe than sentences for crimes committed against other groups. The participants agreed that people had a right to report crimes, although many of them said communities were unaware of this right or afraid to exercise it. Rural and peri-urban participants did not know the procedures for laying charges and opening cases. However, urban participants were better informed in this respect. Roles for communities in crime prevention In all three areas there had been little community support for crime prevention programmes. However, there was awareness that these programmes need to be multifaceted and to include the communities as key role players. Partnerships between communities and the CJS were perceived to be crucial to crime prevention. However a lack of confidence in the CJS by communities has resulted in little co-operation to date. Substantive recommendations on the transformation of the CJS and how crime should be handled were made. A scant knowledge of what existing policies there are within the CJS suggests that more education is needed. Most participants wanted programmes that would educate them about human rights and women s rights. Specific recommendations that were common across all three areas include the following: Victim support and witness protection programmes should be operationalised. Partnerships between the CJS and communities should be encouraged. Communities should become involved in the conceptualisation of the NCPS and other crime prevention programmes. Structures within the communities should be used to consult people and to educate them about the NCPS and similar programmes. Community ownership of crime prevention programmes should be enhanced through campaigns that increase community awareness that all community sectors (business sector, NGOs, CBOs, and the government) are partners in crime prevention. The NCPS needs to be popularised through involving communities in developing and implementing CJS awareness programmes. As has been noted elsewhere in this issue of the Crime Index, the role of public opinion and by extension public support is important in assessing the success of initiatives. The NCPS and the departments that make up the criminal justice system would do well to take into consideration the recommendations made by participants of this study as a means of addressing some of the challenges facing the criminal justice system in Business Against Crime: Partnerships for Crime Prevention The relationship between government and civil society is recognised as being important in South Africa, especially in combating and preventing crime. In 1996 the business community grouped together and established Business Against Crime (BAC) to provide assistance to the South African government in its fight against crime. Two years on, BAC continues to play an important role in crime prevention in the country.

9 Business Against Crime has a national office and five provincial offices (Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Mpumulanga and Kwazulu-Natal) which have developed projects around both the National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) and local needs. Business sees its role as using the expertise and resources within the business community to assist the government and specific departments, for example the police service, to implement the NCPS, encourage transformation through community police forums (CPFs) and provide business skills and management to the four departments which make up the criminal justice system. Currently BAC National has four programmes which complement the current efforts of the NCPS: the integrated criminal justice system; vehicle crime; border control and commerical crime. BAC has been instrumental in providing the NCPS with necessary resources (mainly in-kind support and personnel) to carry out these projects. The integrated criminal justice system is the largest of these projects and has been working with the NCPS to identify blockages in the current system and working to alleviate these while also improving the efficiency of the justice process. In Gauteng, the provincial BAC office, inaugurated in January 1998, has undertaken to work on issues which are critically important to reducing crime in the province with an initial focus on Johannesburg. The seven task groups are shown in Diagram 1 Local crime prevention strategy: Support Partnerships for Police Stations (SPPS), behavioural skills traning, victim empowerment, community participation,fleet management Criminal Justice: Court support, partnership programme (similar to the SPPS programme), training Anti-crime Technology: Implementing projects on: murder, robbery and aggravated assault, border control, vehicle crime, commerical crime and crimes against women and children. Communication: Creating internal and external communication plan Education: Studying the use of distance learning for civil servants Communitiy Opportunity: Developing networks within communities, identifying needs and priorities Private Security Industry: Projects on cash in transit, guarding, investigations and armed response Diagram 1: BAC- Gauteng Task Groups Each task group is in charge of formulating plans, identifying priority areas and working with the relevant community and governmental organisations. BAC Gauteng sees its role as working within the area in which the activites of government, business and civil society overlap (see Figure 1). Figure 1

10 BAC Gauteng has been a key partner in Programme Johannesburg, working to provide support partnerships for police stations (the SPPS project) for the police stations in the area. It has also been involved in the Johannesburg Safer Cities project and other local and provincial initiatives. All the provincial BAC offices work closely with provincial and local government structures on issues relevant to the needs of each province. BAC receives funding through a series of sponsorships and patrons (companies and individuals who provide money for both operating and project costs). Funds are also raised for specific projects as needed. Each project is internally monitored and evaluated by BAC. Indicators of success, especially for those that work closely with departments of the criminal justice system, are often the same statistics that these departments use to measure their work. Although recognised as being an imperfect measure (see Measuring Progress: Assessing the Criminal Justice System in this issue), data are one of the few tools available. Measurements for less tangible effects, for example the impact of projects on communities, are being considered. What does BAC bring to crime prevention? More than anything else, BAC brings a commitment to partnerships and a concomitant commitment to sustaining them over time. Bac has come to understand the value of publicprivate relationships and believes its projects offer the opportunity for involvement in long term community and capacity building initiatives. In addition, the business community has strengths that may benefit government, for example, leadership and senior management expertise. The combination that BAC tries to bring into its projects a balance of policy and practical experience has worked successfully and its continuation should be encouraged. Programme Johannesburg: The Beginnings of Effective Policing Programme Johannesburg is the SAPS pilot project for improving police effectiveness. Less than a year old, it is too early for a comprehensive assessment. The concept of tackling South Africa s key policing problems in a localised area is undoubtedly a good one. But the project may be too ambitious. Unclear goals will be hard to measure, and limited publicity undermines the project s outlook. All South Africans would desperately want these efforts to succeed. These challenges should be embraced in the coming year, to prevent a flagship project floundering on misperception. In 1998, research and policy developments have shown that the key challenges for effective policing are improving service delivery, crime detection and public confidence in the police. To do this, problems such as the lack of oversight and accountability at station level, and resource and skills distribution between stations, need addressing. Notorious for its crime levels and being the country s economic heart, Johannesburg is the SAPS pilot area for overcoming these problems and developing best practice which can be applied in other parts of the country. The stated aim of Programme Johannesburg, which was launched in April 1998, is to develop a new style of policing which is a less bureaucratic, more cost effective, community friendly police service with an enhanced capacity to fight crime. Encompassing 20 police stations in the Johannesburg police area, the programme is expected to run for one year at a projected cost of between R30-R35 million, allocated from the SAPS budget. Activity is focused in eight areas (see Diagram 1). Crime investigation Increase effectiveness of detectives at station level by reducing caseloads, improving screening and flow of case dockets. Service Delivery Improvement Programme (SDIP)

11 Re-designing the structure of police stations to comprise a Community Service Centre and a Crime Office. The core functions of each of the 20 police stations will be analysed to improve service delivery. Performance charts will be used in each station. Operationalise resources Redirect resources to key service delivery points, including moving police from administrative to line function duties Professional conduct Discourage absenteeism, improve discipline, training and education and reduce discrimination. Communication An internal communication initiative is being piloted at Booysens police station. Proposals for public communication strategies are being considered Standards Fleet management, petrol card and telephone management systems to improve information and reduce costs. Crime information/intelligence Establishment of crime intelligence and information structures and centres. Crime prevention strategies/operations/sector policing Division of police stations into manageable sectors and the appointment of sector managers. Diagram 1: Programme Johannesburg project areas According to the police, there have already been significant achievements. To ensure effective management and service delivery the Johannesburg area was divided into four subareas and four deputy area commissioners were appointed at Jeppe, Johannesburg Central, Randburg and Sandton police stations. The deputy commissioners must form effective business units in the respective sub-areas. Due to the enlistment of civilian personnel and security guards, 321 policemen have been released from administrative duties to do functional policing. Between May and September 1998, absenteeism among officers at programme police stations declined by 4.1%. Arrests by detectives and cases brought to court have increased by 57% and 99% respectively among the 20 police stations. Since the beginning of April 1998, the number of cases handled by the police has decreased by 5.8%. These figures for arrests, cases brought to court and cases handled by police do however need to be analysed in much more detail. In each case, successes would be better reflected as rates, based on the number of cases reported at each police station, the number of dockets opened, and the manner in which cases were closed by police. In addition, the types of crimes for which this activity was recorded is important, as well as the proportion of cases in court that resulted in convictions. Will progress be measurable? The overall project evaluation is due in April Evaluation procedures that have been built into the project, include: charts to measure the performance of police stations; analysis of the core functions and improvements in service delivery to the public using the Service Delivery Improvement Programme; a community service line that provides a community perspective in assessing police performance. The complexity of Programme Johannesburg, its many focus areas and application at 20 stations will probably make measuring success difficult. In addition, since the activities of the various projects are quite different, each should have distinct goals, with distinct time frames

12 and deliverables. Crime statistics are not a reliable measurement of police activity, and other more targeted police performance indicators should be developed. Assessing police performance is never easy, but will be critical to the success (both symbolic and real) of Programme Johannesburg. Already the programme is used to reflect gains for the police in 1998, but the data to show achievements are limited. Other obstacles also face the assessment process. There is little evidence that lower ranking officers were involved in the development of performance measures for the project. These members may resent performance indicators if they are regarded as irrelevant to everyday police work, thus undermining compliance and overall project objectives. Decreasing absenteeism is an important achievement, but the ultimate outcome needs to be improved service delivery which must also be reflected somehow. The five internal evaluation groups that visit police stations focus mainly on police-citizen encounters. There are no plans as yet to assess public opinion and levels of satisfaction with the police. Johannesburg Safer Cities: Taking on Local Crime Prevention Despite many obstacles, Johannesburg has shown that local crime prevention can work in South Africa. The challenge for 1999 is to extend projects into Johannesburg s townships and develop social programmes which reduce violent crime. Although this example presents hope for other local governments, the task will be arduous for those with less clout than the country s economic and crime capital. A key policy innovation in the White Paper for Safety and Security is devolving the implementation of crime prevention to local government. While this makes imminent sense from the perspective of crime prevention, most local governments lack the skills, capacity and funding to make it work. Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council (GJMC) is no exception. But an assessment of the achievements of the GJMC s Safer Cities project is encouraging. The Safer Cities project was established in March 1997 as a collaborative effort between the United Nations Centre for Human Settlement, the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime and the GJMC. The project has been adopted as a pilot by the NCPS and the national Secretariat for Safety and Security. Core funding was provided by the Royal Netherlands Embassy and other funding has been secured from donor organisations and national government. The initial local crime diagnosis, strategy development, consolidation of partnerships and community mobilisation took 12 months, and will continue throughout the two year implementation period. The strategy has four focus areas and a range of programmes (Diagram 1).Although it is too early to begin real assessments, Safer Cities: Greater Johannesburg has made progress in several focus areas: Focus area 1: Making environments less conducive to crime Car guards: training and assisting in developing a professional car guarding system Safer public environments for women: developing safety audits and implementing projects with groups of local women Focus area 2: Developing a culture of crime prevention Capacity building for city crime prevention: develop crime prevention expertise in the council Initiate integrated local crime prevention projects: stimulate the establishment of local crime prevention projects across the city Addressing violence against women: create a women s centre in Kliptown and stimulate educational programmes in particular areas Focus area 3: Supporting preventive policing and law enforcement

13 By-law enforcement: evaluate and strengthen council s ability to police and enforce by-laws Develop metropolitan policing: support the newly formed structure tasked with the planning and transformation process towards municipal policing Co-ordination with the SAPS: build co-operative links with police particularly between the council and police stations in the area Focus area 4: Information and tools for assisting victims Directory of services available to victims Distributing pamphlets in police stations, clinics, hospitals and churches: to prevent further victimisation and describe the process that should be followed by authorities and victims Promoting community based support to victims of crime Diagram 1 Car guards More than 350 car guards from existing organisations have been trained. Guards have been provided with over 500 reflective uniforms and a programme has been implemented to develop capacity and provide infrastructural support for guarding organisations. Although the project is in its infancy, achievements have been establishing links between guard organisations and the SAPS and traffic police. Project partners Business Against Crime and Fedsure have been critical to these successes. Bylaw enforcement A new unit of 30 enforcement officials has been created, using existing council budgets. Security officers and traffic officials comprise the core of the team and other members have been provided through a partnership with local business. The unit has initially been trained in the enforcement of new street trading regulations through an incremental approach of education, followed by issuing verbal warnings, fines, court summons and confiscation of goods. The unit has made an important impact, reducing trading infringements in the inner city and improving relations with the police. Another important success of Safer Cities is securing the dedicated services of a magistrate and prosecutor (and premises) to prosecute bylaw infringements. The court began operation on 1 December Support for the SAPS A liaison committee comprising police and council members has been created for the inner city where officials and station commanders plan projects that require mutual support. This committee is linked to the car guard and street trading enforcement projects. Eighteen months ago the relationship between the police and local government was tense and characterised by a lack of trust. The situation is now marked by increasing respect, understanding and collaboration. Integrated local crime prevention pilot projects A project is being piloted in the Western Joubert Park Precinct, which will serve as a test case for precinct development in the inner city. The first stage of the process has been initiated through the creation of a partnership at precinct level. Funding for the implementation of other stages has provisionally been approved by national government. The experience of Safer Cities: Greater Johannesburg shows several key challenges for local crime prevention: The need for political support particularly at local level

14 Notes Lack of skills in crime prevention, particularly regarding violence Lack of resources Sustaining partnerships and projects once they have started Adapting programmes to poorer areas and securing the participation and representation of this sector Evaluating the success of crime prevention programmes 1. Bloemfontein, Welkom and QwaQwa/Harrismith 2. Study conducted by the Women's Development Foundation and the Human Sciences Research Council with a grant from the Crime Prevention Innovation Fund of the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology between October 1997 and March 1998 Antoinette Louw, Sipho Ntuli and Sarah Meek, Institute for Security Studies Willem Schurink, Evanthe Schurink and Motlatjie Letsebe, Human Sciences Research Council

15 Putting the National Anti- Corruption Agenda to Work The National Anti-Corruption Initiative (NACI) is symbolically important as along with the Rural Crime Summit it is one of only two areas where government has demonstrated serious political will against crime. But the challenge is to move from discussing co-ordination to action. Three key areas that should be considered in 1999 are the capacity of investigators and prosecutors; whether the anti-corruption drive should be led by a single body; and current legislation and whether capacity is available to enforce it. During November 1998, government launched the NACI with a two-day conference in parliament focused on the public sector. This high-profile event followed close on the heels of a "moral summit" where leaders from various political parties publicly committed themselves to upholding a code of conduct and promoting the moral health of the nation. National efforts at last? All this may seem electioneering of the worst kind. However, the urgency of the problem and the seriousness of resolutions taken at the Cape Town conference, suggest that in the light of increasing media heat and concurrent public pressure to do something about it, the importance of addressing corruption has been firmly placed on the national policy agenda. These efforts do not come a moment to soon: if unaddressed, corruption undermines the rule of law, strangles economic growth, and impacts the poor most severely. Also, government corruption has been cited by a recent World Economic Forum report, as well as by visiting US commerce secretary William Daley, as one of the key impediments inhibiting foreign investment to Africa. In this highly competitive context, perception is reality and for once government appears responsive in tackling this particular crime problem. That Deputy President Mbeki opened the Cape Town conference, and an impressive array of ministers sat through the entire proceedings, signals a demonstrable political commitment. Where to from here? In terms of resolutions taken at the Cape Town conference, a number of areas to improve governance within the public sector were identified. These include: maintaining an ethos of public service, discipline and accountability; improving the quality of management; and strengthening financial and management controls. Of particular importance were resolutions taken to improve the capacity and efficiency of investigations and prosecutions within the criminal justice system. These include the suggestion that a list of priority cases of fraud and corruption in the public service be compiled and dealt with rapidly and severely, possibly through a special court. This is a welcomed suggestion and builds on previous proposals emanating from the Business Against Crime Working Group on Commercial Crime (see Nedcor/ISS Crime Index, Commercial Crime: Addressing the Inefficiencies, Vol 2, No 5, p. 1). The question of whether South Africa should adopt the model of a single, centralised anticorruption agency along the lines of the Hong Kong Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (and closer to home the Botswana model) was vigorously debated. Should calls for a single centralised agency continue and there are strong indications that this may be the case there is an urgent need for comparative research on the applicability of such a model for South Africa. Fuelled by ongoing media speculation on the relationship between the Public Protector s Office and the Heath Special Investigating Unit over the Sarafina investigation the highly contentious debate around a single agency was momentarily resolved by urging existing anti-

16 corruption agencies to publish clear guidelines on the nature of corruption, ways to expedite transgressions and how the agencies will deal with these reports. It emerged that often ethical employees who want to blow the whistle on misconduct do not know how to, or where to go and that their complaints fall through the cracks. The importance of conducting an audit and review of current legislation to effectively address corruption and related issues such as organised crime, is obviously a top priority. While the Prevention of Organised Crime Bill passed smoothly through parliament, the challenge in the forthcoming year will be to see whether any convictions of high-profile organised crime bosses are secured under this much-publicised legislation. Other important legislation to monitor in the coming parliamentary session will be whether the Open Democracy Bill, which contains a far-ranging section on the protection of whistle-blowers, will in fact be passed. Balancing words with action In the near future it appears that the only concrete NACI event to take place will be yet another conference. With a co-ordinated public sector strategy now in place, key actors from the private sector and civil society will be invited to a national summit in February The objective will be to develop a comprehensive programme for combating corruption across all sectors. Whether government should in fact be leading this initiative is questionable. For the moment, in the light of the upcoming election, it appears they have the most to gain. Comparative research shows that in the absence of a "feel-good" factor, most often precipitated by poor economic conditions, political corruption may assume greater importance among the electorate. That means the readiness to accept shortcomings on the part of politicians may be inversely related to economic performance, or so the theory goes. As if to pre-empt this, the NACI places government squarely in a position to address these issues. What is encouraging is the fact that South Africa has also agreed to host the 9th International Anti-Corruption Conference in October With this event occurring well after the next election, cynicism about whether government is serious about combating corruption should be momentarily shelved. Lala Camerer, Institute for Security Studies

17 Letting the private sector off the hook? The NACI was an important political initiative, but by hosting an anti-corruption conference focused exclusively on the public sector the message was perpetuated that corruption is a purely public sector phenomenon. Since civil society, and especially the private sector, may be party to corrupt activity and capable of perpetuating or controlling it, they have an enormous role to play in the process of developing a sustainable and inclusive anti-corruption strategy and are excluded at their peril. Much time at the Cape Town conference was spent lamenting the inherited bureaucratice setup, resulting in poor governance and opportunities for corruption. Concrete resolutions taken at the conference to address these issues need to be monitored closely, a role which civil society is well placed to play. Futhermore, from a civil society perspective, the release of Transparency International-South Africa s Corruption and Good Governance Profile in September, as well as the Corruption Perception Index, provided an initial attempt to comprehensively assess the nature and extent of the problem. Such initiatives, however limited in terms of available information, are important to enrich responsible and constructive public discourse around corruption issues. In South Africa an urgent need therefore exists to develop an inclusive, comprehensive and integrated strategy to tackle corruption, involving all law enforement agencies, the private sector and organs of civil society. It is here that Transparency International-South Africa s concept of Networks of Integrity formed through identifying and co-ordinating anticorruption groups in government, the private sector and civil society is particularly innovative, and can make a valuable contribution to combating corruption. The proposed national anit-corruption summit in February, building on these networks, will hopefully find common consensus as to how to strategically address the problem of corruption across all sectors in society. Mpho Nawa Transparency International-South Africa

18 Dealing with Offenders The four most pressing issues for dealing with criminal offenders in 1998 have been increasing prison populations, Correctional Services capacity to house offenders, sentencing, and the management and security of prisons. These issues together form the challenge facing the Department of Correctional Services. An effective strategy for corrections must be to address each individually, while acknowledging that each impacts on the other. These are also the issues which can be used to monitor and evaluate the department during the course of The increasing prison population Although the total prison population has declined since January 1998, it cannot be assumed that the crisis in South African prisons is ending (Figure 1). Figure 1 Total prison population from (September) Saurce: Department of Correctional Services On the contrary, despite the approximately 3700 unconditional (sentence completed), 3200 conditional (parole and correctional supervision) and awaiting trial prisoners released each month, prisons continue to fill. Since the pardoning and release of 9000 offenders for President Mandela s birthday in July, the total prison population has increased from in July to in September. Statistics show that the increase is largely a consequence of the rise in the number of people awaiting trial, a result of blockages elsewhere in the criminal justice system (Figure 2)

19 . Figure 2 Number of sentence and unsentenced prisoners from January to September 1998 Source:Department of Correctional Services The number of awaiting trial prisoners has increased by 5472 between January September 1998 (from to 48575). In contrast, the number of sentenced prisoners has declined by during the same period mainly due to the amnesty granted to the 9000 prisoners in July. With the implementation of the minimum sentences bill, there will be an increase in the number of criminals receiving sentences of 20 years or more for aggressive crimes. Such suggested penalties will increase the numbers of offenders sentenced for longer terms and, by extension, the prison population (see Nedcor/ISS Crime Index, Latest Trends in Sentencing: More Time and Fuller Prisons, Vol 2, No 4,p. 1). Currently, a project committee of the South African Law Commission is investigating the development of a comprehensive sentencing policy for South Africa. It takes into account both the rights of victims and offenders as well as addressing the problem of overcrowding. In addition, the Pre-trail Services Offices, operating in three magistrates courts across the country, are helping to reduce the overcrowding in a few prisons by diverting some accused, particularly petty first-time offenders, out of prison. Capacity to house offenders South Africa is heading towards a punitive society, similar to the USA where bigger and better prisons are being built to accommodate increasing numbers of offenders. As part of the Asset Procurement and Operations Partnerships Systems (APOPS), the Department of Correctional Services is already negotiating three preferred bidders for four private prisons in South Africa. The first appointment is expected in December Sentencing offenders The controversial opening of C-Max, a maximum security facility, followed by Malmesbury, a new generation prison, at the end of 1997, illustrates that the correctional services department was trying to balance, rather precariously, the retributive sentiment of citizens while attempting to reform and reintegrate offenders back into society (see Nedcor/ISS Crime Index, Criminal Justice Review, Vol 1, p. E21). The department perpetuates the paradox this year. On one hand the new privilege system, which reduces prison visits, phone calls and the use of televisions, is being enforced and three more super maximum prisons are being planned. On the other hand, 9000 prisoners were granted amnesty in July and the latest Correctional Services Bill ensures that prisoners are treated in humane conditions, and