Crime and Its $40 Billion Hit to the Economy Are at the Heart of South Africa’s Vote
Increasing insecurity and corruption are key concerns in the runup to May 29 elections that are expected to force the African National Congress into a power-sharing arrangement.
Six men accused of murdering Kaizer Chiefs soccer player Luke Fleurs sit at a court appearance outside Johannesburg on April 25.
Photographer: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
In November, as a Shoprite Holdings Ltd. store in a working-class area of Cape Town prepared to open, gunmen stormed in, held staff hostage and then escaped with cigarettes and cash—the umpteenth such violent robbery for Africa’s biggest retailer. In February, an executive of Rand Water, addressing a group of schoolchildren on the outskirts of Johannesburg, was shot dead by an armed man firing at close range. An up-and-coming soccer star was gunned down in April in a carjacking near Johannesburg.
The African continent’s most developed nation has long been saddled by one of the highest crime rates in the world. The number of murders was just under 27,500 last year, up about one-third from 2019. The World Bank estimates that criminal activity shaves a whopping 10%, or$40 billion a year, from the gross domestic product.