The latest South African crime statistics for the 2010/2011 period released
today, by the Minister of Police Mr Nathi Mthethwa, has revealed that South
Africa is slowly making headway in successfully dealing with South Africa's
high levels of rampant crime. This is welcome progress, and the IFP commends
the Ministry of Police and the SAPS for their dedication and commitment to
making South Africa a safer place.

However, we believe that the remarkable drop in the crime figures must be
viewed against the background of an intensive crime fighting campaign that
was waged in June and July 2010, when South Africa hosted the international
community during the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

During this period, South Africa's 1118 police stations had additional
staff, while our police men and women worked overtime. We believe this is
one of the main reasons why today's crime figures paint such a rosy picture.
The IFP believes that if the SAPS could adopt their World Cup modus
operandi, with regard to crime fighting as a permanent way of operation - we
could see further reductions in crime levels going forward.

Since 1994 we have seen a massive decline year-on-year in the murder rate.
The newest figures, a drop of 6.5%, reflect that same trend. We believe this
is a promising and positive sign. In addition, the massive drop in car
hijackings, attempted murder rate and the drop in house burglaries is
significant and laudable.

However, the IFP is shocked by the alarming increase of 61.5% in ATM
robberies. ATMs are often unguarded and seen as easy targets for criminals.
The IFP believes that government must develop an urgent plan of action to
deal with this type of crime.

More importantly, the frank admission by the Minister of Police today that
South Africa is not yet winning the war against rape is commendable. The
levels of rape in South Africa remain unacceptably high, while all crimes
against woman and children must be viewed as a national disgrace. While rape
is often underreported, in some instances the police also fail to promote
the rights of rape victims by not following correct procedures, or in some
cases, even failing to record these crimes. This leads to rape victims
feeling helpless and being discouraged to report the crime. This is an issue
that government must place special focus on with immediate effect.

The IFP remains concerned with the high levels of corruption within our
society, while the tendencies of criminals to target soft targets, such as
small businesses and the increase in drug-related crime remain worrying. In
addition, police brutality, the high number of police officials being
murdered and understaffing of the ICD remains a cause for concern. Better
training for our police officers is urgently needed, while our conviction
rate remains far too low.

Despite the improvements in our crime levels, our war against crime is far
from over. South Africa's crime levels remain high. One person raped,
assaulted, hijacked or murdered is one too many. We must continue to
intensify our fight against the lawless elements within our society, and we
are hopeful that next year's figures will show more significant reductions
in all levels of crime.