As police lose the war on crime in South Africa, private security companies step in
As police lose the war on crime in South Africa, private security companies step in
The private security industry in South Africa is booming as police struggle against record levels of crime.
War on crime is usually just a war against poor people.
Maybe try making them less poor and see how crime falls. Its only (checks notes) backed up by science.
Good luck with that. The biggest criminals are the incompetent politicians, there's more and worse poverty in SA now than ever before.
Somehow they can completely drain the country of money but at the same time can't find their way out of a paper bag.
South Africa is, from what I hear from south African immigrants, a hell hole of crime and corruption. It's not necessarily poor people committing all the crime. But yet these private security forces aren't going to be targeting the richer corrupt people committing the worst crimes.
It's not just economic crimes this is wanton rape, murder, and wholesale take overs of state infrastructure by organised crime outfits. This isn't normal crime like you may encounter in other countries, we are frequently topping the list in the most violent categories of crime.
Right now theres an epidemic of gender based violence, that is men raping and murdering women or male partners/spouses just outright murdering their partners. Doubt this is linked to a war against poor people.
This is what happens as the disparity in wealth grows.
This is what happens as the state gets hollowed out by decades of ANC corruption and misrule.
Sure, let's replace the bastards with worse bastards that are only there for profit and would make less profit if crime were to go down! That'll fix it! 🤦
The thing is, individual citizens can't reform the police, or ambulance services, fire brigade, or power utilities, all of which have been gutted by the ANC. All they can do is to pay, out of pocket, for private sector replacements. No one is arguing that this is better than having working public sector versions in the first place, but that's not achievable until the national government gets totally overhauled (if it ever happens).
Oh dude let me inform you about the state of crime in South Africa - we've had instances where police stations have been firebombed by criminals raiding the weapons store, any property not being guarded being stolen from lawn chairs to vehicles, the unusually high rate crime: 21000+ murders per year, 42000+ rapes per year and that's officially reported stats from the SAPS.
I've seen people being kidnapped, I have even had family and friends who have been kidnapped, women raped and murdered in my locality, countless hijacking and aggravated robberies. I am part of the local CPF so I am on constant communication with police and security companies.
Often the police are completely reliant or heavily rely on security companies. These security companies are often the only people standing in the face of lawlessness. Not necessarily in the wealthiest areas either.
Not necessarily in the wealthiest areas
That you need to point this out illustrates my point: the private security armies are there to protect the people who pay them and their interests. If the boss has interests in a less wealthy area, that might be protected too. Maybe.
That's not law enforcement, that's an anarcho-capitalist nightmare!
Isreal trained a lot if SA private security forces. This feels like propaganda against SA by isreal considering the timing and SA's efforts to stop the genocide of Palestinians.
Israel. The name is Israel.
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Dyslexia is a bitch. I was so close.
Thank god for the Isrealis then because god damn this country would be more fucked somehow.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
It’s an all-too-common story in South Africa, a country that in the past year has seen an average of 75 killings and 400 robberies with aggravating circumstances every day, according to official statistics.
Experts have warned that the South African police are losing the battle against crime — and that has led those citizens who can afford it to turn to a booming private security industry.
“It’s not getting better, it is getting worse,” said Anton Koen, a former police officer who now runs a private security firm that specializes in tracking and recovering hijacked and stolen vehicles.
Associated Press journalists accompanied private security officers on patrols around suburbs in east Johannesburg, where it was evident they were performing the role of the police in many circumstances.
During one of the patrols, Koen sped to where two suspects had been apprehended by other private security personnel after a vehicle they were traveling in was linked to burglaries and armed robberies.
In an indication that police are overwhelmed, local government authorities in the Gauteng province that includes Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, have recently introduced their own crime wardens to help with law enforcement.
The original article contains 1,002 words, the summary contains 193 words. Saved 81%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Private security companies earn a monthly fee for patrolling neighborhoods and providing armed response to their clients’ alarm systems. They also offer tracking and car recovery services, which often results in them getting involved in high-speed chases of car thieves and hijackers.
Emphasis mine. How does getting payed from a private individual give you access to armed responses to anything? If that is legal no wonder why the police is failing at maintaining the law.