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CRIME, INVESTMENT AND ELECTIONS Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana recently urged foreign investors not to be deterred by isolated incidents of criminality, and gave the assurance that improving South Africa’s safety and security situation was one of the Government’s top priorities. By Peter Bagshawe
G
iven that this was after the period of what has variously been described as unrest or insurrection between 9 and 18 July 2021, the focus of the Government must be squarely on the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security as well as the National Joint Operational and Security clusters. The performance of the South African Police Service during this period, the lack of forewarning and information from state intelligence organs and the role of the private security industry in its services to clients and communities are all factors
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that require investigation and, with the exception of the last, rectification and remediation. The reassurance given by Minister Godongwana may, however, ring somewhat hollow following Liberation Struggle War Veterans holding the Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele, Minister of Defence Thandi Modise, Deputy Minister of Defence Thabang Makwetla and delegates from the Presidency hostage for three hours in the St George’s Hotel in Irene, Pretoria during the evening of 14 October 2021. A further concern is the request by the Minister appears to border on asking for
condonation of criminality within South Africa. At the time that Minister Godongwana made his remark that foreign investment should not be deterred by violence, Bloomberg added a notation to their report on this that 5,760 murders were recorded in South Africa for the period 1 June to 31 August 2021. Over the period of 92 days, this gives an average of 62 murders recorded per day by the South African Police Service. An outsider would, in all likelihood, look at the available statistics to review the position in South Africa with regard to murder and the
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