If you haven't heard anything about the "issue" of crime in South Africa over the past week then I'd like to know which hole you've had your head in...

It seems that the death of David Rattray, the AU's peer review report, and Mbeki, Selebi, Mdladlana and Ngkula's comments have stirred up a lot of unrest in South Africa (other than people living in fear that is...)

I'm always asking myself why crime is so violent in SA - why do so many people get killed over cellphones/wallets/etc? I really don't understand it. I wonder if it is related to how much the perpetrator values their own life.

Alec Hogg of Moneyweb has a story from Davos where he speaks about the impact of organised crime in SA, namely wrt smuggling,

It’s clear, for starters, that South Africa is a key nexus in the global supply chain of a trillion dollar plus industry. SA's particular attraction to the world crime syndicates is its supplies of illicit precious stones, rare minerals and marijuana from the continental hinterland.
Key to all of this is the setup of efficient supply chains.

Once the supply chain is in place, various “products” can and are channeled through this distribution network, multiplying the profit. So although a supply chain might have been set up for illicit cigarettes, it can also be used for human trafficking or hard drugs.
I also didn't realise that pirating DVD's is more lucrative than selling cocaine.

Particularly lucrative products for these criminal networks are illicit cigarettes (as half the cost of legal smokes is tax) and pirated DVD movies, where profit margins are massive. As one of the panellists pointed out, the profit on one kg of illegal DVDs is three times that of cocaine – and the punishment, should the pusher be arrested, incomparably light.
So a supply chain implies a few things,

  1. Customers/demand - you/me/others are buying products (cigarettes, DVDs, drugs, etc.)
  2. Retailers - there is someone selling it, taking their cut
  3. Distributors - the smuggling part of this
  4. Manufacturers - some one is producing because there is a lucrative market


So there are a couple of options which are basically to break that chain somewhere. So here is something to think about before you buy/pirate/etc.

Otherwise law abiding citizens are fuelling the supply chain every time they buy anything form pirated DVDs and tax-free cigarettes to cheap clothing. They don’t seem to think twice about where they come from and are clearly not making the connection between a global network of sin and its side effect of violent crime.
Another aspect is that there seems to be a high tolerance of the sales of certain illicit materials,

Motorists are virtually mobbed at traffic lights by illegal DVD hawkers; East European sex workers are in abundance at “lap dancing” clubs; designer label knock-offs are openly sold by street traders; “cheap” cigarettes can be bought in public areas; and it’s easier for a school kid to secure a joint of marijuana than a bottle of beer.
Where are the police in all of this? Can a "no broken windows" approach work? How would that impact our economy?

Obviously a large part of the issue is corruption, which Vietnam seems to have taken quite seriously....

As the Vietnamese prime minister told me earlier in the day, his country only started to win the war against crime after it introduced harsh penalties, including the death sentence, for corrupt officials. Supported by a system of promotions for public servants who identify those accepting bribes.
So there is my bunch of random thoughts largely based on Alec Hoggs article, "Criminal tentacles sucking SA" (all the quotes are from that article).

Let's talk about this a bit, we really need to resolve this and the way to win the war is a multipronged approach - from grassroots level up to policy makers, we all need to buy into a better way of life for ourselves.