Crime in SA has reached a dangerous tipping point: Fanie Bouwer

Key topics:

• Crime and corruption now deeply embedded in all levels of SA government

• Public services sidelined as criminal networks infiltrate state structures

• Hope pinned on police inquiry and new minister to drive real accountability

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By Brigadier Fanie Bouwer

One of the key questions that must be asked today is the following: Can South Africa’s culture of serious crime and decay be curbed in the near future?

It takes only a few minutes on social media to realise the extent of corruption, fraud, organised syndicates and even mafia-like behaviour in South Africa. 

These phenomena did not emerge overnight, but their effects are now visible and undeniable everywhere.

What we must clearly understand is that the ongoing focus on corruption by certain politicians and state officials, as well as the systemic infiltration of criminal networks into state departments down to municipal level, has had the undeniable effect of shifting the focus away from service delivery to mere survival within a climate of criminality. Service delivery is no longer a priority; tenders and self-enrichment are.

South Africa did not suddenly collapse; the decline happened slowly and subtly, almost like cancer that spreads silently. Although the signs were there, we mostly just discussed and wrote about it. The public has been warned for years, but the cracks gradually turned into gaping fractures.

State capture was eventually investigated by the Zondo Commission as a unique and deliberate phenomenon. Yet today, years later, it appears that crime not only flourishes in our communities’ streets, but is also deeply rooted at every level of government. This reality is shocking, but the government bears the greatest responsibility for this criminal tendecy.

Worse still, is the fact that South Africans are slowly becoming accustomed to this state of affairs. Until the day reality strikes you: crime has not just worsened – it has become a way of life. And the country has already reached a tipping point.

There is hardly a state entity that remains unaffected – from municipalities to provincial departments, from state-owned enterprises to, shockingly, the police itself.

President Cyril Ramaphosa a few days ago at an African liberation movements conference said:

“We need to be united in our efforts to rid our societies of crime and corruption, and we need to work together, drawing on each other’s experiences, to rebuild and renew our movements.”

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Unfortunately, these types of statements are not linked to concrete policy directions or action plans. They are symbolic utterances. In other words: phrases of hopelessness and powerless sentiment. They sound good, but they mean nothing without real political will and intervention.

What does it truly mean if the state itself cannot get its own house in order? When the highest political authority in the land calls on ordinary citizens to act against crime while its own state organs fail to perform their duties, such appeals become hollow and lack credibility.

As for the police, South Africans are now holding their breath over the Madlanga Commission which will soon begin its work, all thanks to Lieutenant-General Nhlanla Mkhwanazi,  provincial police commissioner of KZN when he spilt the beans some weeks ago. 

There is hope that this inquiry will expose the extent of corruption and dysfunction in the police. This, together with the appointment of the new acting Minister of Police, Firoz Cachalia, may just herald a new beginning.

Cachalia – a veteran ANC comrade – will certainly be watched closely. If he approaches his task with integrity and a mission-driven mindset, he could make an invaluable contribution. But he will have to prove quickly that he is not just another political appointment, but someone who truly wants to rebuild.

To conclude

South Africa’s future depends on the political will to act decisively against corruption and crime.

Without deep reform and real accountability, the culture of decay will continue, and the chance of recovery will grow ever slimmer.