AOE-997 AUTOMOVIL 19 TOYOTA 5 CORONA AVENSIS

According to Liebermann, Landman, Louw and Robertshaw (2000), crime is not the result of one event but, rather, it is the result of a combination of several factors. In order to reduce the crime rate in a city there are two different approaches that may be taken, namely, punishment for or prevention of the crime. The traditional penal approach aims to deter criminals through punishment once they have been arrested and tried in court. 36 | P a g e

However, this approach is not working in South Africa as the country has the world’s seventh highest number of prisoners, outranking countries with populations that are 5 times larger than the population of South Africa. South Africa also has the highest ratio of prisoners to total population in Africa, with 348 prisoners for every 100 000 population (Naidoo & Mkize, 2012; CSVR, 2009).

In comparisons between the annual crime rates for the various provinces in South Africa, the Eastern Cape is consistently in the top three provinces in the serious crime categories, namely, murder, sexual assault and robbery at residential premises. These three categories represent a variety of public safety issues that are likely to be reported if a participatory crowdsourcing system were implemented. Figure 2.3 depicts the percentage of murders committed in the various provinces. The Eastern Cape had the second highest percentage of murders committed in South Africa for 2012, after Kwazulu- Natal (Crimestats South Africa, 2013).

Figure 2.3: Percentage of Murders Committed in South Africa per Province (Crimestats South Africa, 2013)

Figure 2.4 depicts the percentages of sexual assaults per province for South Africa. As may be seen from Figure 2.4, the Eastern Cape has the third highest percentage of sexual assaults in the country after Kwazulu-Natal and Gauteng (Crimestats South Africa, 2013).

Figure 2.4: Percentage of Sexual Assaults in South Africa per Province (Crimestats South Africa, 2013)

The last category that would of interest concerning the participatory crowdsourcing system is robbery at residential premises. As depicted in Figure 2.5 the Eastern Cape is placed third after Gauteng and Kwazulu-Natal with a percentage of 9.6% for this crime category in 2012 (Crimestats South Africa, 2013).

Figure 2.5: Percentage of Robberies at a Residential Premise in South Africa per Province (Crimestats South Africa, 2013) Eastern Cape, 14.3% Gauteng, 18.4% Western Cape, 13.3% Free State, 7.9% North West, 8.3% Limpopo, 9.8% Mpumalanga, 6.4% Northern Cape, 2.8% Kwazulu Natal, 18.7% Eastern Cape, 9.6% Gauteng, 36.8% Western Cape, 9.2% Free State, 4.7% North West, 5.7% Limpopo, 4.3% Mpumalanga, 6.3% Northern Cape, 0.6% Kwazulu Natal, 23.0% 38 | P a g e

There are many factors that have been identified as the reasons for these statistics, in particular, the apartheid policies prior to 1994. Law enforcement in the township areas was not a priority under the apartheid regime and this, in turn, resulted in the development of a culture of informal mechanisms of justice and criminal groups operating in these areas (Liebermann et al., 2000).

A further factor that may play a role in the high violent crime rate is the inequality found in South Africa. The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation reported that South Africa is one of the most unequal societies in the world (CSVR, 2009). There is a reported link between inequality and questions about self-worth amongst people who are confronted with the extreme disparities between their own positions and those of people who are significantly better off than they are. This is especially important in the black community of South Africa where the gap between the ‘have and have-nots’ is increasing. Other factors closely associated with inequality include high levels of poverty, structural unemployment as well as social and political exclusion and marginalisation (CSVR, 2009). Making use of conversational analysis, these statistics and reasons were all taken into account in the decision concerning which smart city area the study should focus. In order to ensure the participation of all the citizens in East London, it was essential that the focus area of the study be both inclusive and important. The researchers were of the opinion that the statistics mentioned above provided sufficient evidence that public safety is an issue of concern in East London and that it affects the quality of life of all the citizens in the city. Figure 2.6 provides a summary of the complex interplay between the various factors involved in crime (Liebermann et al., 2000).

Figure 2.6: Various Factors that Influence Crime (Liebermann et al., 2000)

The alternative approach to reducing the crime rate is the prevention of crime. Although the prevention of crime is often regarded as the ‘soft approach’, it does have very distinct benefits for both government and the community. It costs R69 000 per annum to house a prisoner. On the other hand, the prevention of a crime lessens the impact of crime on potential victims while improving the quality of life in communities (Naidoo & Mkize, 2012). It is essential that crime prevention focus on three areas if crime is to be reduced. These include altering the environment in which crime occurs; changing the conditions which are considered to cause crime; and providing a strong deterrent to crime in the form of an effective criminal justice system (South African Government, 1998). Crowdsourcing may be used in order to alter the environment in which the crimes occur. Examples of such projects include the use by the Memphis Police Department in the United States of America and the police department in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, of predictive analytics in order to predict hot spots for crime and, thus, to increase visible policing in these areas (McConnachie, 2012; Horn, 2012). These projects will be discussed in section 3.6.