SERIOUS ABOUT CRIME: ANC secretary- general Kgalema Motlanthe
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ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe has lashed the
state for failing to protect citizens from being robbed and murdered in
their homes.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Times , Motlanthe
said house robberies and burglaries should be regarded as serious
crimes.
“If citizens cannot be safe in their own homes it is a serious matter.
“I think the criminal justice system must be most brutal
against those who invade the privacy and security of people in their
homes, but they [housebreaking and robberies] are regarded as … minor
crimes.
“I think the first responsibility should be to secure people in their homes.”
He said people had to know that they were safe in their
homes, even though they faced the risk of being mugged, or worse, in
the streets.
“I’m saying my sense is that our attitude on these things
is not right and when these things happen, we do not nip them in the
bud.”
The ANC as the ruling party, had to emphasise the supremacy of the constitution.
“All of us, without exception, must live by the tenets of
that constitution, these must be applied consistently across the board
and the laws that flow from that as well.”
Motlanthe added that South Africans, of all races , did not have a culture of observing the rule of law.
“The challenge is how are we going to educate our people to understand the importance of the rule of law.
“That when you are on the road and go onto the shoulder
and overtake cars from the left, or you go through a red traffic light,
you are breaking the law.
“ We think that is inconsequential and that the rule of law must only apply in major cases. It cannot work like that.”
Society in general had to understand that every law had to be respected, not only what some might perceive as “the big deal”.
“These are the challenges as I see them. It applies with equal force in terms of corruption.”
National crime statistics indicate that house robberies
shot up by an alarming 25percent between 2006 and 2007. Security
experts argued that the increase was due to stepped up home- security
measures that make it difficult for criminals to gain access to
properties.
Anthony Minnaar, a senior researcher in security risk
management at Unisa, said last month: “Because home owners have beefed
up security, gangs are now targeting them while they are at home. Much
of this is associated with higher levels of violence because the
targets have hardened.”
A crime survey by The Nielsen Company found that
22percent of South Africans, surveyed in July, said they or family
members had been victims of crime during the last 12 months.
Of those, 34.4percent said they had been victims of armed
robbery and 28.5 percent indicated their homes or those of family
members had been burgled.
The survey also found 27.3percent of respondents said
they had put up electric fencing in 2004, 20.8percent said they signed
up for an armed response service in 2005 and, by 2006, 18.6percent said
they had fitted vehicle- tracking devices.
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