|
Farm attacks go
urban
Sophisticated urban
criminals are exploiting
the same tactics used in
farm attacks to hit
homes in residential
suburbs in South
Africa's major cities.
Henri
Boshoff, a military
analyst at the Institute
for Security Studies (ISS),
told the Saturday Star
on Friday that the
military precision in
"house attacks" in
cities was very similar
to farm attacks.
After
attending scenes of
"so-called aggravated
house robberies" around
Gauteng in the past
three months, he
concluded that the modus
operandi criminals used
in those incidents was
the same as farm
attacks.
'The government needs to
see this crime as a
priority'
From
March 2005 to March 2006
South Africa recorded 10
173 incidents of
aggravated house
robberies. Gauteng
accounted for half, at a
staggering 5 909.
Boshoff is calling for
the police to classify
"house attacks" as a
separate crime category,
as farm attacks are
categorised, because a
variety of crimes
including murder, rape
and hijacking occurred
during those incidents.
"The
government needs to see
this crime as a priority
and put a task team on
to it. That's the only
way to stop these
syndicates. We need
more-visible and
proactive policing," he
said.
"There is no difference
between these house
attacks and farm
attacks. Houses are
being targeted and
someone is doing some
reconnaissance. They
find out what is in the
house in terms of money
and jewellery, and the
movements of people.
"They
are even using the same
kind of markings as they
use in farms such as
Coke bottles, stones and
sticks [placed outside
the property] to warn
others [in the gang] if
there are dogs or to be
careful because there
are weapons in the
house.
'Someone is doing some
reconnaissance'
"Then
the team hit the house.
They use very military
types of actions and all
are well armed, very
aggressive and violent -
that's how they shock
the inhabitants. The
most obvious times this
is happening is when
residents are home,
because they want them
to open their safes.
"You
could be busy having a
braai, and they hold you
up and rob you. If
you're lucky they won't
shoot you, but in most
cases they do hurt
people."
Most
attacks, Boshoff said,
happened after 8pm. And
often, houses in
affluent suburbs, "where
they know there is money
and jewellery", are
targeted.
Cellphones were not
valuable to the
criminals, while
victims' cars were
merely used to get away
from the scene and were
dumped later.
Hangwani Mulaudzi, a
spokesperson for the
ministry of safety and
security, said he didn't
want to comment on
Boshoff's findings but
said it was unlikely the
police would make "house
attacks" a separate
category.
"It's
house robbery. You can't
call it an attack.
People enter the house,
and when you go to court
you can dissect the
crimes individually.
It's already categorised
as housebreaking or
robbery."
Dr
Johan Burger of the ISS
said it was alarming
that farm attacks were
"seeping into cities".
"It
seems as if criminals
are becoming bolder by
the day, and they can
only do that if they
have enough confidence
that they won't get
caught," he said.
South
Africans were tired of
being powerless victims
of crime and had little
faith in the police and
the justice system.
"If
the government is as
serious as it says it
is, then it must now
take the lead and give
this fight the sort of
urgency one would expect
if we were confronted
with a military threat -
but we don't see that."
Mulaudzi added it was
very sad when people
generalised about crime
in South Africa. "The
police are working hard
to protect this country
and its constitution.
Yes, we do have a crime
problem but it's not
unique to South Africa.
It's global."
Original article
|
