It's difficult not to get carried away by headlines today that the UK is more violent than South Africa. On the one hand it is easy to become filled with smug satisfaction that the milk is turning sour and the honey has dried up in the Promised Land - especially for those saffagettes who have to suffa the insuffarable whingers.
On the other hand, South Africa's crime statistics are still very high - although there have been news reports about government putting measures in place to fight it. This week, deputy police minister
Fikile Mbalula prolifigated Operation Wanya Tsotsi - which a News24 language expert translates to "You will shit, criminal!". According to an article in today's The Times, the UK registered 2034 incidents per 100,000 compared with South Africa’s 1609.
Let's not fool ourselves. 1609 per 100,000 is still a shocking statistic. But at least it's not 2034.
- Picture sourced from the Sowetan.
Saffanisms (AKA buzzwords)
Saffa (n): South Africans. Usually used to describe expats (fondly)
Saffagette (n): A South African whose vote is reserved for Mzansi, the Motherland. A Saffagette is not an ostrich. A Saffagette has a vote and is determined to stand in a queue to cast it.
Saffavescence (n): Developed from saffervescence, which is a slang derivative of effervescence. Saffavescence means awesome, amazing - in a South African sense of course.
Saffaring (v): Being patriotic.
Suffaring (v): Having to listen to others not being patriotic.
On the other hand, South Africa's crime statistics are still very high - although there have been news reports about government putting measures in place to fight it. This week, deputy police minister Fikile Mbalula prolifigated Operation Wanya Tsotsi - which a News24 language expert translates to "You will shit, criminal!". According to an article in today's The Times, the UK registered 2034 incidents per 100,000 compared with South Africa’s 1609.
I'm not sure I'm ready to sleep easy just yet. We have to compare apples with apples. The problem with SA crime is the violent nature of it. I wouldn't mind if we had 1000 minor attacks on the streets in which some pimply chav robs you of your cellphone. Stats show that South Africans fear home robberies the most - the violent intrusions which are often accompanied by rape, etc. In my opinion, any South African who gets excited about our crime levels is living in Wacko land. And we all know what goes on there...
ReplyDeleteIn Wackoland you have access to any drugs you want...
ReplyDeleteApparently those stats are skewed. The UK classes a lot of less serious crime as violent, whereas in South Africa a lot of those less serious crimes aren't even added to the stats.
ReplyDelete