Businessday 16 Apr 2010

THAMI MAZWAI: Small business needs a tougher police force
THAMI MAZWAI	Published: 2010/04/16 07:31:23 AM

CLOSE to two years ago, the Small Business Project (SBP), a nongovernmental organisation specialising in small business research, pointed out that more than 40% of small businesses did not expand or employ more people because of the high levels of crime in inner- city areas, townships and informal settlements.

As a personal example, thugs once robbed my brother of the day’s takings, his wallet, jacket and everything moveable in his container telephone business in Soweto. The family rallied around him and he started again. Several weeks later, the same or another group of hooligans pistol-whipped him and, again, took everything. Just like about 30% of small business owners hit by crime, he threw in the towel. The SBP rightly maintains that the extent of crime in SA deters job creation and economic growth.

Criminals regularly attack small businesses . As these businesses do not have insurance, it is amen for many when these thugs strike. Obviously, these entrepreneurs need protection as the crimes are violent and brutal. Thus, today’s talk of “militarising” the police is music to the ears of the owners of small busiesses. The message is that the police will no longer smother criminals with hugs, kisses and brotherly love, assuring them of their rights under the law.

In any case, the murder of 3000 police officers since 1994 should inform us that a no-nonsense attitude is required.

Claims that militarising the police force will erode citizen rights are more of an interpretation than anything else. The repackaging and rebranding of the police, which is what Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa is talking about, must be differentiated from the actual fight against crime.

This “militarisation” creates an operational mind-set and is not an abandonment of the rules that protect civil society from heavy-handed police officers.

Private-sector organisations rebrand and reposition, and this reignites and reinvigorates their workforce. Why is it different when Mthethwa wants to achieve the same so that society is better protected?

To discuss this issue in a broader context, Gen Solly Mollo, previously of the South African National Defence Force, posits that during transformation the security apparatus weakens as the incumbents, fearful of the future, balk at and manipulate the system. We appear not to have considered this insecurity and that the incumbents would meddle with the processes.

Also, when we appointed police ministers, we appointed democrats rather than disciplinarians and crime- busters. The rot started seeping in. The best appointments were those of the late Steve Tshwete as minister of police, and the current commissioner Cele — both of them rough-and-tumble guys who can, or could, mix in with their men.

Mthethwa is doing some interesting things, but the jury is still out on how successful he will be. Pussyfooting around with nice terms, such as “criminals have human rights”, has unintended consequences — a soft approach to crime. I do not encourage authoritarianism, but the situation is bad.

SA is the only country I know of — perhaps the closest is Mexico — where the death of a police officer is regarded as just another death. We do not have infuriated citizens demanding to lynch the murderer. We even have all kinds of regulations making it impossible for the police just to defend themselves.

As much as I understand the concerns around the “shoot to kill” statement, my sympathies are with the police. No sight pleases me more than one in which five or six robbers lie dead on the ground and a police officer, gleeful, stands over the corpses ready to take on the next set of bandits.

My parting shot is that we need the ruthless apartheid police variety — as long as they focus on criminals and not on political activists. This way the small business people will start growing their enterprises, which grows the economy and provides people with jobs.

The most important human right is the right to a meal — we forget that at our peril.

- Dr Mazwai is director of the Centre for Small Business Development at the University of Johannesburg, Soweto campus.

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