Despite growing fears of a new ‘crime wave’, the public have access to official crime statistics only up to March 2006. Although much of the news up to this point was positive, perceptions of the statistics and of government’s position on crime in the last six months have been characterised by scepticism and alarm. The Minister of Safety and Security assured us that next year the statistics will be released soon after the end of the financial year. This, together with a much clearer strategy and commitment from government as a whole for dealing with crime, may help to assuage public anxiety.
Antoinette Louw (Wed,) studied this question.