Blog – Rural safety

Environmental groups alongside international organisations have advocated for an immediate and effective approach to save the rhino through the eradication of poaching. Although there have been attempts by SANParks to integrate communities with conservation and natural resources, militarization has instead resulted in their alienation due to the violent and coercive nature of anti-poaching efforts.

The aggregate manner in which the crime data and statistics are presented masks the disproportionate nature of violent crime in South Africa, which for decades has been concentrated in about 20 per cent of police precincts. Most of these high crime precincts are densely populated, infrastructurally marginalised and characterised by elevated levels of poverty. Therefore, in seeking to gauge a more informed analysis of crime a focus on high crime precincts provides a more enlightening touchstone for the state of violent crime in South Africa.