Structural reform in policing only lasting solution to crime – IRR

Crime will continue to throttle South Africa’s economy for as long as the belief persists that policing problems can be solved through short-term operations rather than structural reform.

So says Ricardo Teixeira, author of the latest report from the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), The IRR’s Blueprint for Growth: Solutions to SA’s Crime Crisis to Boost Growth. Teixeira was speaking at the launch of the report earlier today.

Key points in the report are that

• crime now strips between 10 and 15 per cent from South Africa’s GDP each year, directly damaging investment, productivity and competitiveness;
• South Africa ranks as the seventh most criminalised country globally, with entrenched markets in extortion, illicit mining, synthetic drugs and human trafficking, and
• public trust in policing has collapsed, with only 31.1 per cent of adults feeling safe walking at night and fewer than half believing the police would respond promptly in an emergency.

Teixeira says: “If you look honestly at how crime undermines this economy, you stop imagining that isolated tactical wins can rescue us. Crime will continue to choke growth for as long as South Africans believe the problem lies only on the streets and not inside the institutions meant to protect them.

“When policing is presented as an operational problem and not a governance crisis, the system retains enough political cover to avoid reform. Yet the data show that every sector – mining, logistics, retail, construction – is being damaged directly and indirectly by crime, with consequences that reach every South African.”

Teixeira adds: “Once you recognise that with criminal networks exploiting weak leadership, compromised intelligence, and political interference, we confront a clear and present danger to South Africa’s economic prospects. Businesses are not withdrawing because they are timid. They are withdrawing because the system is inconsistent, unpredictable and increasingly permissive of organised crime.”

The report notes that “evidence-based policing, digitisation of policing systems, and professionalisation are no longer desirable improvements but necessary economic reforms”.

Media contact: Ricardo Teixeira, IRR researcher and Associate Editor, Daily Friend Tel: +27 62 985 6068 Email: ricardo@irr.org.za

Media enquiries:

Anneke Burns

IRR Public Relations

+27 71 423 0079

anneke@abpr.co.za