JOHANNESBURG (AP) – Mass shooting This week in South Africa was the latest in killing spree Experts say organized crime gangs take advantage of the failures and sometimes absence of police in some of the country's poorest areas.
Twelve people have been killed and at least 15 injured after multiple suspects opened fire at an informal settlement of shanty towns in Johannesburg, according to authorities.
No arrests have been made.
President of South Africa deployed army on the streets Attempts were made in several hotspots earlier this year combat organized crime – An unusual move seen by critics as an admission that police in Africa's most developed country were losing the battle in those areas.
Additionally, South Africa's police force has been embroiled in allegations of corruption and collusion with criminal syndicates. This has resulted in More than a dozen senior officials are being arrested And top officials including the Police Minister and the National Police Commissioner are being suspended.
Criminals take advantage of poor areas
recent mass shooting Experts say the two incidents in December that killed more than 20 people occurred in poor areas far from city centers, where organized crime gangs take advantage of conditions such as lack of security, poor lighting and slow police response.
“Criminal syndicates clearly take advantage of this to hide weapons, carry out attacks and disappear into the darkness,” Jacob Mofokeng, a professor of criminology at the University of South Africa, told The Associated Press.
South Africa has a lot high levels of violent crimeAccording to the most recent annual figures there is an average of more than 60 murders per day.
But most murders take place in poor slums or informal settlements. South Africa has a long history of deep inequality which is reflected in its crime: affluent neighborhoods have very low violent crime rates.
Some gangs operate largely unregulated
illegal mining gang Gold has long been a problem in and around Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city, home to some of the world's largest gold reserves.
The gangs are notorious and are known as Zama Zamas – which roughly translates as “hustlers” or “chance takers” in the Zulu language. They set up bases in poor and poorly policed areas and fight turf battles with other gangs or use violence to take control of those areas.
According to authorities, mining gangs often include immigrants from neighboring countries who live in South Africa illegally.
This makes it difficult for police to track suspects because they have “no legal identity, no registered address, and no fingerprint or DNA profile,” Mofokeng said. “They're actually a ghost.”
South Africa's government has said it loses more than $3 billion a year for illegal mining. Zama Zama has been a problem for decades and one reason for this was the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Authorized a one-year deployment of troops to the streets to fight organized crime in specific areas across the country.
Residents of a Johannesburg neighborhood affected by this week's mass shooting said illegal mining gangs were known to operate there. Police said the motive for the shooting was not known, but mining gangs were the focus of the investigation.
millions of illegal firearms
South Africa has strict rules governing the legal ownership of firearms, but according to independent studies and civil society organizations, there are about 2 million to 3 million illegal guns circulating in the country of 62 million people.
Guns are by far the most common cause of murders.
Willem Els, an analyst at South Africa's Institute for Security Studies, said the flow of illegal guns and police failures had created an ideal environment for criminality.
“In South Africa, we actually managed to create conditions that are very conducive for violent crime and for organized crime syndicates to operate with impunity,” he told the AP. “We found a lot of unregistered firearms that the police don't have control over.”
lack of trust in police
Analysts say police in South Africa are under-resourced, but allegations of corruption in the force have also seriously weakened its credibility.
Police corruption has been a problem in South Africa before. A new allegation last year President Ramaphosa was forced to announce a national inquiry into police corruption after a provincial police commander said top officers and staff were in collusion with organized criminals. This has resulted in a spate of arrests of senior police officers.
Private investigator and security expert Mike Bolhuis said police corruption has an impact on grassroots policing in areas affected by violent crime because citizens are sometimes hesitant to provide information or help officers.
“The public doesn't trust the police, they don't trust officers and they don't trust each other,” Bolhuis said.
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AP Africa News: https://apnews.com/hub/africa