Since apartheid was removed. By Daniel De SimoneBBC News, Johannesburg
Violent crime is soaring in South Africa, with audacious security van heists commonplace and the murder rate at a 20-year high. For the government - and all those who live here - this grim record is a serious problem.It is election year, the most competitive since the birth of democracy in 1994, and crime is a key issue.. . According to the latest annual statistics, more than 27,000 people were killed in a year. But the number solved has fallen to a grave low, only 12%. Getting away with murder has become normal. The combination of high rates of crime, poverty and unemployment make insecurity an overriding concern throughout society.The brash confidence of violent criminals is vividly illustrated by the very public phenomenon of cash-in-transit hijacks, known here simply as CIT.Security vans carrying money are rammed off busy daytime roads by deliberate attacks with vehicles, with guards set upon by heavily armed men who use bombs to blow open safes.Robberies can last extended periods, with motorway traffic continuing normally on the other side of the road while gangs prime their explosives and rove about with automatic weapons, sometimes filmed by onlookers.
