Violent crime poses threat to voter participation ahead of local elections

ONGOING gang violence has sparked concerns that it may hinder citizens' ability to vote as many can barely walk to the shop without fearing for their lives.

This emerged on Wednesday when the Electoral Commission’s Western Cape Provincial Office held an event at the Dulcie September Hall in Athlone under the theme: “Violent Crime and the Impact on the Ability and Willingness of Citizens to Participate in Elections.”

The event comes in the wake of grim statistics revealed by Police Minister Firoz Cachalia during a National Assembly mini-plenary last month showing that the Western Cape had recorded a staggering 490 gang-related murders in just six months, averaging 83 deaths per month. 

“For many, crime has become an unjust but persistent reality of daily life. It persists in their communities, their schools and even in their homes. The reality is the high incidents of crime especially on the Cape Flats also reflects the legacy of apartheid of where we come from and the continued failures with claims of corruption and inadequate support and opportunities to our communities. Violent crime affecting all of us, takes place across the board, it even affects charity organisations, emergency service. Extortions and drug wars, there is violence suffered by taxi commuters, domestic violence and violence inside and outside schools. It is becoming endemic across our society,” said IEC Electoral Officer for the Western Cape, Michael Hendricks. 

He added that violent crime could impact a person’s ability to go to a voting station and also resulted in communities not trusting the government to keep them safe and withdrawing from elections as a result, representing a direct threat to democracy. South Africans are set to vote during local government elections next year. 

“The success of security initiatives must not only be measured by statistics and speeches but by whether people on the ground actually feel safer.”

UCT criminology professor Irvin Kinnes said the environment of instability and violence closes the space for political campaigning. 

“Unless we are able to put a lid on the crime we are going to see far more no-go areas, come elections. If you abandon certain communities from a governance perspective, don’t expect business as usual. Because your governance will be challenged at a local level by people who will be better.

"To budding politicians and to budding political parties, don't make deals with gangsters for access to communities. You are going to be forced to do it, don't go there. Provide jobs and opportunities for young people, they become the cannon fodder for what's going on in our communities today. Keep your promises to the electorate.”

Cape Times