Mbeki urges South Africans to join forces against crime
27 Apr 2007 14:20:06 GMT Source: Reuters
By Paul Simao JOHANNESBURG, April 27 (Reuters) - President Thabo Mbeki urged South Africans on Friday to join forces to bring rapists, drug dealers and corrupt government officials to justice. In a speech marking the Freedom Day public holiday, the South African leader said residents should take a lead role in rooting out criminals in their neighbourhoods, forming partnerships with police and community groups to do so. "Let us identify those who steal and sell stolen goods, let us expose those who sell and use drugs ... expose those who rape and abuse women and children. And then let us report them to the police," Mbeki said at a rally in Bisho in South Africa's Eastern Cape province. Mbeki added that "street and area committees" should be used to flush out corrupt government officials and public representatives, whom he said were jeopardizing efforts to get electricity, water and other basic services to millions without. Improving service delivery and tackling crime and corruption are the biggest challenges facing Mbeki and his ruling African National Congress (ANC), which has held an electoral stranglehold since the end of white minority rule in 1994. Opposition parties and the media have accused Mbeki of turning a blind eye to government corruption and of lacking the resolve to tackle crime, which some believe is spiralling out of control in major cities. South Africa has some of the world's highest rates of violent crime, including 18,528 murders last year, and has been jarred by a series of sensational crimes, including the murder of a prominent historian earlier this year. Business leaders have expressed fears that, if left unchecked, the problem could deter tourism and foreign investment in Africa's biggest economy and ruin the country's chances of successfully hosting the 2010 soccer World Cup. In February, Mbeki said Africa's economic powerhouse had made progress in its battle against crime, though he acknowledged many people still lived in fear in the streets and in their homes. He has said that crime cannot be licked unless the country provides a better life for the millions of mostly poor blacks living on the margins of South Africa's booming economy.
