Surging rates of murder, extortion and kidnapping are among signs that crime is posing an “existential” threat to South Africa, according to a report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
The murder rate has risen 38% since 2010, the number of kidnappings for ransom has quadrupled, and there is an R187 billion annual impact from infrastructure theft such as the looting of copper-power cables, the Geneva-based group said in a report released on Wednesday.“Organized crime is an existential threat to South Africa’s democratic institutions, economy and people,” Mark Shaw, the director of the group, said in an introduction to the 206-page document.
That’s been exacerbated by the weakening of state institutions during the nine-year rule of former president Jacob Zuma, who his party ousted in 2018. Pipelines are targeted and syndicates demand contracts from mining and construction companies, which they are paid for but don’t fulfill.
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