Serial Killer Fears Put Spotlight On A Crime Crisis Stunting South Africa

Serial-Killer Fears Put Spotlight on a Crime Crisis Stunting South Africa SOUTH AFRICA South Africa For South African mother Nomgqibelo Tshabalala, worries over a serial killer targeting women in the Ekurhuleni area, east of Johannesburg, have made everyday activities a cause for alarm. “I am feeling a lot of fear and paranoia,” Tshabalala told Reuters. “My daughter caught an Uber yesterday and I did not sleep.” Since July, the bodies of 12 women have been found in the area, although police have not confirmed that the deaths are connected. The killings have focused attention on a violent-crime crisis that has haunted South Africa for decades, making it harder for one of Africa’s most industrialized economies to escape years of weak growth, unemployment and poverty. It has drained resources, discouraged investment and limited economic opportunities, impeding the country’s development. Crime costs the country at least 10 percent of GDP annually through stolen property and resources diverted to security and insurance as well as missed economic opportunities, according to the World Bank. Crime in South Africa “has contributed to lower profits, productivity, investor confidence and subsequently hindered economic growth and development,” said a study published in the International Journal of Economics and Business Administration. “As economies seek to develop through eliminating inequalities, alleviating poverty, and ensuring economic growth, crime often stands in the way, discouraging investments, fueling migration … thereby creating economic development disparities.” More recently, the rising economic threat is coming from organized crime: criminal groups extract money from businesses, disrupt essential services and infiltrate government institutions. Illegal mining syndicates exploit mineral wealth, while extortionists target businesses. Criminal groups have even sabotaged municipal water systems to create business for illicit tanker operators. “At the start of the decade, if you asked the bosses of South Africa’s firms to name the biggest problem facing their country, most would have said electricity,” wrote the Economist, referring to regular blackouts. “These days another subject is at the top of their list: organized crime.” In the construction sector, criminal groups use threats and violence to demand money or a cut of project contracts. The extortion rackets have delayed infrastructure projects and driven up costs. Analysts have attributed the construction mafia’s rise partly to backing from elements of the political elite. “The threat of violence over construction projects is a constant strain on those who work on them – the fear that they may be physically harmed, or their livelihoods destroyed,” said an analysis by organized-crime research program ENACT Africa. “For others, it’s an incentive to quit South Africa and offer their talents to countries where engineering and building are safe.” “What starts on construction sites doesn’t end there,” it added. “Its costs are counted in a low-growth economy, forfeited opportunities, and South Africa’s enduring developmental malaise.” Meanwhile, the illicit economy – illegal economic activity outside the tax and regulatory system – has grown from 5 percent of GDP two decades ago to an estimated 12 percent to 15 percent today, depriving legitimate businesses of revenue and the government of taxes. “Buying a cheap illicit product is not harmless – it funds organized crime, destroys jobs and deprives communities of schools, clinics and safe infrastructure,” South African Revenue Service Commissioner Edward Kieswetter wrote in Business Day. “South Africa cannot achieve inclusive growth, fiscal stability or economic recovery while a parallel illicit economy continues to thrive unchecked.” As a result, the continent’s richest country still struggles with a high poverty rate: almost 60 percent of its 65 million people live on around $8 a day, while the unemployment rate tops 30 percent. The most dangerous development may be organized crime’s reach into the state. The Madlanga Commission, investigating allegations of criminal infiltration and political interference in South Africa’s criminal justice system, recently heard testimony about collusion among criminals, police and political figures, raising questions about whether law enforcement can combat them. “Organized crime seldom defeats the state through superior force – it succeeds by exploiting institutional fragmentation,” criminologist Kholofelo Rakubu told South Africa’s Daily Maverick. “The greatest threat to organized crime is an independent criminal justice system. Equally, the greatest threat to the criminal justice system is organized crime that succeeds in influencing the institutions established to combat it.” Yet the exposure of those alleged links also offers hope, say observers. Investigations, public inquiries and prosecutions show institutions pushing back. Already, authorities said this summer they have initiated 770 cases and made 241 arrests involving construction-extortion schemes. Analysts say that it’s key to shore up weak institutions to stop the crime syndicates. “Accountability is the best form of organized-crime prevention,” said Anton du Plessis, CEO of South African business-backed anti-crime group Business Against Crime South Africa. “You cannot privatize the rule of law.”