ANC holding back crime stats
So I was listening to the news and heard the spokesperson for justice say that the reason that the crime stats had not been released is that opposition parties would accuse the ANC of electioneering. This because the stats show a decrease in the crime levels. Well I have a couple of comments:
1) When have the ANC ever worried about the opposition in terms of electioneering?
2) We all know that Crime is an issue in this country, if the stats show that the crime rate is down, then this must be a plus for the ruling party. All of the opposition parties are trading off the crime issue and this would be one way to diffuse the commentary.
3) The release of the stats are in fact a national and indeed international priority, we need investment into the country and one of the stumbling blocks quoted by the foreign investor community is the high levels of crime. Stats that support a drop in crime would give the investors further confidence.
My observation is that the stats may well indicate a negative move in the crime stats and therefore show a poorer picture of crime in South Africa. This would be further bad news for the ANC and they are therefore holding back on the stats to bolster their case. They certainly cannot claim any success in the area of combating crime without releasing the statistics.
So let’s get the stats released and end the speculation. The dung ball for the moment to the ANC for failing to release the crime stats and then claiming that this is in the interest of electioneering.
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