Can drones and job creation combat South Africa's crime crisis?

While South Africa needs more boots on the ground and well-trained and equipped police officers in the fight against crime, technology such as drones will come in handy, said independent crime expert Professor Johan Burger.  

The former chief executive officer of the Institute for Security Studies weighed in on the importance of technology in preventing and combating crime, but also said job creation was most important.

This followed a heated debate during President Donald Trump and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s media briefing at the United States White House on Wednesday evening. 

The briefing, which was followed by a closed-door meeting between the two leaders, ended with a focus on the issue of crime in South Africa and the killing of Afrikaner farmer owners, which Ramaphosa and some in his team said was affecting everyone in the country, irrespective of race. 

During the briefing, South African wealthy businessman Johann Rupert pleaded with Trump to assist the country with technology to bring crime under control. He went as far as to say that US-based South African businessman Elon Musk’s Starlink, which is a satellite constellation system designed to provide internet coverage, would also help South Africa deal with the problem.

Burger made an example of drones, which are fitted with a crime detection system, saying they could reach places where police could find it difficult to go with vehicles or on foot.

“If there are no access roads, the drones go and identify where there are firearms.

“The system can pick up where the shooting took place and immediately relay that information back to the operation rooms,” he said. 

He also made another example of the Eyes and Ears Initiative (E2), the Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system, which he said had already made an impact. 

“It was an initiative between the police and business, and it uses advanced cameras with a special recognition system.

“It is very good to be used in rural areas and farming communities because those cameras are linked to the police’s operation rooms, and police can immediately follow up whether it is a farm attack or stock theft, as they can identify where the thieves are fleeing using vehicles.   

“These are just a few examples of how technology can help the police in terms of crime prevention and combating,” he said. 

Burger said South Africa needed more technology because “the more technology you have, the better you can address the crime issues”. 

“Yes, technology is certainly something that needs to be used in the fight against crime,” he said. 

When asked if Starlink can assist in the war, Burger said he knew it as a system that Musk’s company wants to bring to South Africa to access the local market, but “precisely how it works, I don’t know, as I am not an expert in that area”.  

Ramaphosa and Congress of South African Trade Unions president Zingiswa Losi were more emphatic in saying US investment and job creation in South Africa would help bring down crime.

Burger said employment opportunities and using technology were the remedy for the fight against crime. 

“But we need to improve law enforcement capability much more than we have at this time, but at the same time, we need technology, although it can never replace law enforcement agents.

“We need boots on the ground and we need them better trained,” Burger said.

Rupert told Trump that crime was not affecting white farmers only, but was across the board, and that the country needed technological help.

“We need Starlink at every little police station, we need drones.

“I got drones donated for the peace parks to stop elephant and rhino poaching, and his predecessor stopped the importation because he said the United States would spy on us. 

“We need your help to stop the awful killing,” said Rupert.

Rupert said illegal immigrants and unemployment were the main causes of the crime, adding that if businesses were to leave, the country would experience more crime. 

“If we don’t get our economy to grow, the culture of dependency and lawlessness will increase,” he said.    

Political analyst Imraan Buccus said both technology and creating job opportunities were important in bringing down crime. 

“I don’t think it is one or the other. I think in a country as unequal as ours, with an unemployment bloodbath that affects especially young people, obviously, investment would help.

“We have a very low economic growth rate, and to have any chance to address the unemployment bloodbath, you need a growth rate of about 8%, 9%, or 10%. 

“The investment would help, but I don’t think it is one or the other, as technology or whatever is available can help to curb crime,” said Buccus.

Free State Agriculture (FSA) Security risk analyst Dr Jane Buys welcomed the use of technology to fight crime. She said many farmers in the province were already using high-technology cameras and cellphones to protect themselves.

“However, load shedding has affected farmers badly because if there is no electricity, we don't have data, and cameras do not work. 

“But we welcome the idea of bringing more technology into the fight against crime,” said Buys.

University of KwaZulu-Natal political analyst Zakhele Ndlovu said that although South Africa needs every mechanism to deal with “out of control crime”, he was not sure if choosing Starlink to help with this, without putting on a tender for other companies to bid, would be a good idea. 

“It is a good idea to have something that would help fight crime, as we know that crime is out of control in South Africa. 

“Having Starlink, I am not sure about that. Maybe we need to put a tender out and see if there can be another company that might compete with Starlink.

“But I think at this point, there is not much competition and therefore we don't have much of a choice but to have Starlink,” said Ndlovu.

 bongani.hans@inl.co.za