Dr. Sarah Aba-Afari believes the partnership of the police with the people in a just and egalitarian society is the missing link in solving the rising crime riddle in South Africa. Dr. Aba-Afari, who joined the Ghana Police Service in 1990, is towering specie of an officer in her country Ghana. She rose through the ranks in style having been focused on the pursuit of academic laurels to enhance the quality of livelihood and her performance in the service. From Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), she earned a PhD in 2005 and became the first female Police PhD holder in the country and rest of Africa. Widely traveled, she is known for her outstanding investigative skills that brought great successes to cracking major cases. Dr. Aba-Afari, married and mother of two, spoke exclusively to MDNTV on the rising crime rate in South Africa, and how to tackle it through the family units, community policing, God’s intervention and art therapy. Excerpts
On rising crime, police and missing link in South Africa
South Africa is a unique case. If you say that crime and related issues in SA have turned a pandemic proportion, then I would address the issue in three perspectives: as a police officer, an academician and then as a minister of the gospel.
During the Apartheid, most rights were taken from the indigenes – the non-white population. So, they suffered so many things which you know. They were subjected to poverty and given inferior education, and were not given opportunity to train themselves and have the resources of skill sets. This is a design by the Apartheid regime to keep them like that. Now that there is freedom, the people do not have the right skill set to take up jobs as expected. Only a few might be ready for that.
Now, as Africans, they may want to take over the businesses of the white man to appease themselves as people that did not have that opportunity. However, there is now liberty, freedom – movement is not restricted, but most youths do not have requisite skill set; some may go back to school and others may not.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up to reconcile the whole South Africans. Some may have peace to reconcile themselves, but there is a deficit because that gap from the Apartheid regime will still leave some pains in their hearts – they may want some compensation or something like that. Psychologically, they may be disordered. They want to do things to draw attention to that deficit or the pains they have.
Not having the requisite skill set will subject them to poverty and unemployment which will lead to many inequalities in the society. There were a lot of dislocations and relocations – people were moved to communities in which there were not supposed to be. People lost relevant family ties and some may not have grown up with their parents; some parents may be in prison at the time. These culminated into so many things.
As an academician, I would suggest there should be a policy for rehabilitation so that those who still live in that consciousness will be reconciled to their relatives. After that, they may be offered employable skill so that they can seek the job they could do. This is because every African has the nobility to work and seek avenue for gainful employment to fend for the families and the extended. In the absence of this, some resort to crime.
Use of art therapy/painting as tool
The artists’ association in South Africa should be consulted so that they would have people to reform through engaging them in painting, drawing…there should be mass sensitization activities through paintings and drawings. All the psychologists and therapists should be engaged to attend to people. This will also help people to reconcile using art as a medium by which people are allowed to make statements through drawings. By so doing, they are releasing what pains traumatize or make them depressed and affecting them negatively. The person will be assisted to regain his or herself to accept the current norms in the society and embrace them.
People can live in communities without fear because those who call themselves criminals will regain themselves, they were not born criminals. If they have criminal gangs, they will break up because these people who regain themselves will not be able to rejoin their gangs again, they now think with human conscience that is acceptable to the community. Art is a powerful tool!
On South Africa Police
I know that SA police is doing their possible best to check crime, but I would only say that pro-active crime prevention is very good. They should engage the traditional authorities, the family heads and the family so that crime can be prevented in the community – Community policing comes in well at this point. The police assigned to the community will liaise with them to ask what is needed because the security requirement in Community A may not be relevant in Community B.
There should be research, and police should liaise with the community heads, identify the groups in it – schools, faith-based organizations – churches, mosques, drivers’ union, and the market women union. They have the information and the police will work with them. This rapport is necessary to give police information as at when a crime is being perpetrated or about to be perpetrated so that it can be quelled.
Most of the time, little things prevent crime therefore we must not always take our minds to sophisticated gadgets, but human relations is very important in crime prevention, where people in the community will call the police to report that there is something happening here or there. When the police move in, there will be prompt judiciary trial and the confidence of the community would be heightened in the system. So, there will be effort to give them the lead to prevent crime in their community. If the information is not properly managed or attended to, the community will think that when the police are given information, they may not act. This will have a national effect because it happens in each community then the crime rate will be high; police alone cannot prevent crime. It takes the partnership of the community and other stakeholders to prevent crime.
South Africa is a big country for all Africans. It was like they also went through all the mayhem and pains that the indigenes experienced. So, when they had their freedom, other African countries trooped into the country in solidarity and some remained. Now, you have all African countries in SA. In this wise, the police should have close interaction with all the heads of these African countries. If there are no associations of these of these African countries, foreigners in SA, the police should encourage them to set up such associations in relations to such countries. There should also be information exchange between them and the police. This could turn out to be a great crime-preventing tool and if that is not done, the problem may persist.
On family rehabilitation
Crime prevention or the fight against crime is a collective responsibility. Every member of the community should be interested in crime prevention because if you feel unconcerned, it could be your turn tomorrow.
First, the family should have a place to train their children; the policy makers should give encouragement or power to the families to nurture their children to good standard that should prevail in the family. Every child is influenced by the family; the mothers especially have influence on all the children. Mothers could talk with their eyes and body without uttering a word, and the children understand.
Most criminals do not commit crime in their area or neighborhood, they move to other areas to do that. Parents should be allowed to use that control to educate and mentor their children so that they are saved from crime. For instance, you know that your child is not working, and the child is bringing you money and has gangs. You immediately report to the police, and by this, you are doing that child good. You know that the child is not capable and not in any gainful employment and as a mother you receive these things, you are encouraging that child to commit crime.
You should put that child back to the African pathway – asking questions (African parents ask a lot of questions) of where they got these things from. Then a child should be de-motivated to do so and parents should also have time for their homes.
There should be a policy for working women to be able to have enough time for their children that has some financial implication, but it will have a long time good for the country. The women have a strong control over the household and if a family system is very good, it also reduces crime because no child wants to disgrace its parents especially the mother. No child wants to see the mother cry; therefore the family is very paramount in crime prevention.
On Faith-based intervention
Every child wants to appear good before their spiritual leader – the pastor, Imam or traditional priest depending on what is worshipped. So, they should be encouraged on what they should be expecting. A red flag indicates when they should liaise with the police because when crime is reduced in the community, it is safe. Children can play; parents will laugh knowing that the child is not in harm’s way.
The gender ministry is doing well but they should review and reconsider that the parents should have the ability to train their children according to our traditional precepts. It is not a pleasant thing for an African to commit crime – it is a shame to the whole family, especially the parents and that goes to the mother. If that is done, it is good; no son or daughter wants to see the mother or grandmother cry.
…Monitoring children in school
Police should have close interaction with prefects in schools so that they could liaise with these people to provide requisite protection for the people aside liaising with the school authorities. They should be all over the place, therefore the police should be people-friendly to enable people come to them.
Most of the time, peer group influence in the school affects the children. Parents should have good rapport with their children so that whatever is going on within their school set up, they would be able to tell their parents (of what happened in the school) and parents could take it up from there. A child could report that he went to school today, and a child brought the father’s gun to school; this can be taken up quickly. If we are too busy working and do not have time for our children, then they will turn out to what we don’t want – they will pick up habits that we are not aware of, and before we realize it, the child becomes used to them.
Parents should have interest in their children so as to interact with them; this will make the children be comfortable in telling their parents what is happening outside the home. Mothers should particularly be close and listen to their daughters and do not assume that the girls are going out of hand when it comes to dealing their male counterparts. If a daughter reports of males stalking her, it should not make the mother to regard the daughter as ‘bad girl,’ but should listen to help sort out any issues.
Since women and children are most vulnerable, government should do more to protect them. In line with this, there should be nationwide sensitization programme so that everyone should know what to do to assist in the crime prevention agenda.
Dealing with crime through faith-based bodies
Faith-based organizations have great influence over their members, so pastors should know what is right, and seek the appropriate message against crime and violence. If you go to the Book of Exodus, for example, there is the ’10 Commandments’ and it is about what should and should not be done. When emphasis is laid on that, members would change.
Members who are finding it difficult to overcome crime may approach the pastor that, ‘I am a criminal – the message touched me and I should not…help me.’ The person could be prayed for and be sent to rehabilitation to overcome the addiction to crime.
National day of prayers & forgiveness
The pastors in SA could also come together to consult the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob on how the crime situation in the country could be solved because we believe in divinity as Africans, we believe in higher power. So when they consult God, and the traditional priests their gods, I believe that people who belong to all these denominations will come to that consciousness that crime does not pay. It is a shame to get oneself involved in crime.
When we do this, people will gain themselves; we should not honor people who are criminals. This is not good for posterity because if we do not do the right thing now, posterity will judge us and them. Whatever wealth they have gotten will become useless to the generation that will come and uphold righteousness.
I request the ministers, the women church groups in SA to go on their knees and pray and consult the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for solution. I know that God is able to do that. The Bible says that we lift up our problems to him, He cares. Therefore, no matter the situation, God still cares for South Africa; let us consult Him.
The pastors should not be okay with the security they have; they should think about the community who do not have security, which depend on the general security. Everyone is expected to go the extra mile – liaise with the security agencies.
Resource for the security agencies
The police are not the only one that is involved in policing the nation – the immigration, military police and even private security agencies do. They should collaborate and have a front to holistically address crime issues because they are doing the same task in different locations. The agency responsible for resourcing the police should do so properly, and more people could be recruited into the police. Youths could be recruited and there could be a special policy that is put in place to engage them.
In Ghana, there is a youth employment agency that ensures that youths from schools are employed in various ways. Knowing that there is hope; those that have criminal tendencies among them would defer their activities and with time, drop them altogether.
