New global poll finds South Africans feel among least safe

Johannesburg — 

A caller planetary Gallup canvass released Tuesday shows South Africa is 1 of the countries wherever citizens consciousness the slightest harmless walking alone.

Bartender Gugu Xakaza, 32, was mugged by 2 men portion walking location from the market store 1 day.

She said that was the past clip she risked walking anyplace alone.

“I’d ne'er locomotion astir these streets, firstly you cognize due to the fact that South Africa’s transgression presumption is precise high, and besides it’s not conscionable harmless for a pistillate to beryllium walking unsocial astatine night, due to the fact that evidently we mightiness beryllium taken vantage of…. truthful alternatively beryllium harmless than sorry,” she said.

She is not alone.

Karabo Faith, 23, said she nary longer walks anyplace by herself.

“I almost, astir got mugged astatine night… we were walking, going home," she said. "So, this different feline was like, ‘Hey, springiness america your phone.’ Then luckily these constabulary officers came through, truthful they ne'er took our phones. But we were scared.”

The latest Gallup canvass connected planetary information asked radical successful 140 countries however harmless they felt walking alone. Some 70% of South Africans responded that they did not consciousness safe, ranking in the bottommost 3 countries, which besides included Ecuador and Liberia.

Gallup is simply a planetary analytics and advisory firm.

Gallup’s Julie Ray said sub-Saharan Africa has had debased rankings successful the yearly canvass for years. And feelings of information person declined much present than successful immoderate different region.

“The portion has ranked amongst the slightest harmless successful presumption of people’s perceptions for astir 2 decades,” Ray said.

By contrast, citizens successful Kuwait, Singapore and Norway said they felt the safest, with betwixt lone 8% and 1% feeling unsafe.

Women successful South Africa typically consciousness little harmless than men, Ray said. Confidence successful constabulary successful sub-Saharan Africa is besides little than average, she said.

Asked for remark connected the report, Athlenda Mathe, spokesperson for the South African Police Services, said they were moving connected heightening constabulary visibility.

“We are making inroads successful clamping down connected each forms of criminality and the main extremity is to guarantee that we marque South Africa a overmuch amended and safer spot to unrecorded in, truthful that radical tin locomotion freely,” Mathe said.

South Africa has notoriously precocious transgression rates.

According to the latest constabulary statistics, betwixt April and June unsocial much than 6,000 murders and 9,000 rapes were recorded, for rates of 10 per 100,000 colonisation and 15 per 100,000, respectively.