Cape Town – A recent report by the Global Organised Crime Index has ranked South Africa 19 out of 193 countries for criminality.
The Global Organised Crime Index was designed to assess levels of organised crime and resilience to organised criminal activity in all the United Nations (UN) member states – 193 countries.
Six other African countries were ranked in the top 20, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo placing first for criminality. Nigeria ranked fifth, Central African Republic came in at ninth, Kenya was two places below them in the 11th position, South Africa in the 19th position and Libya below them, in 20th.
The results were drawn from a comprehensive dataset informed by experts worldwide and, according to the index, they painted a worrying picture of the reach, scale, and impact of organised crime.
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The report said that the Covid-19 pandemic shaped organised crime in different ways; throwing the world into disarray.
“While the global licit economy ground to a halt under lockdowns and travel restrictions, criminals were working out how to circumvent obstacles and exploit the situation,” it stated.
The index also highlighted how state involvement in criminality was a deeply embedded phenomenon around the world.
“State officials and clientelist networks who hold influence over state authorities are now the most dominant brokers of organized crime, and not cartel leaders or mafia bosses, as one might be forgiven for thinking,” the report read.
According to the report, drug gangs in South Africa illicitly acquired guns sourced from the country’s police armoury over a number of years – weapons that had been due for destruction – which helped fuel the abnormally high murder rate in the country.
According to the Quarter One Crime Statistics 2022/2023, 6 424 people were killed in South Africa in the first quarter of 2022/2023 financial year while 18 police officers were killed during this reporting period.
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
