More policemen were murdered in the eleven years after the advent of democracy in SA in 1994 than in the eleven years preceding SA's political transition, the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) said on Monday.
"The research found that between 1983 and 1993, about 1 152 policemen were murdered. Between 1995 and 2005, a staggering 1 894 were murdered," the Institute said.
This indicates an increase of 64 percent," said Kerwin Lebone, the Institute's researcher who compiled the statistics.
Lebone said that if there were any South Africans that had to date failed to grasp the seriousness of criminal attacks on SA "these figures should shock them out of their complacency".
Continues Below ↓
He said the murder of many policemen before 1994 was allegedly politically motivated, because liberation movements regarded the previous government as illegitimate, and encouraged attacks on that administration's personnel and institutions.
"There seemed to be no political motivation for the continued attacks on policemen after the political settlement of 1994," said Lebone.
He said the increase in the number of murdered police and the huge leap in aggravated robberies were of serious concern.
Criminals seemed to be showing more disdain for the security forces of the present government than they did for the previous one.
Lebone also warned the government not to surrender its citizens rightful monopoly on the use of force for self defence to criminals.
"The continued brazen attacks on state institutions and personnel responsible for the safety of South African residents and citizens amounts to an attack on the state itself.
"Public trust and confidence in the ability of the state to protect them will be eroded if the state cannot be seen to defend itself," he said.
Lebone said the danger existed that the public would lose faith in the legitimacy of state institutions and begin to increasingly take the law into its own hands. - Sapa
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
