All respondents, victims and non-victims, were asked a range of questions about possible measures to improve their personal safety, as well as that of the city, in general. People were asked two open-ended questions about what they thought the government should do to make Durban safer and about what they could do to enhance their own personal safety. Given that in previous surveys most respondents had spoken about policing in response to the first question, people were also asked to choose between several measures that the government could take that excluded policing. These perceptions are important for a crime prevention strategy not only because they indicate what the public want the most, but also because they assist in the management of public relations around the strategy.

What government should do

As found by other victim surveys in South African cities, the vast majority of people believed that the government should intervene by improving the criminal justice sector. Most emphasis lay with the police rather than with the courts and justice system. A quarter of respondents called for harsher punishment (13% of these wanted the death penalty). In comparison, over half (54%) mentioned interventions relating to policing: one quarter wanted more effective police (saying police needed to be ‘more responsible’, better trained, and should arrest more offenders), 19% thought police numbers should be increased, and one in ten suggested increasing police visibility and patrols (table 12).

Table 12: What people thought the government should do to make Durban safer, by race

	African	White	Asian	Total
	%	%	%	%
Harsher punishment, justice	14	50	31	24
More effective police	25	17	26	24
More police	24	12	11	19
More visible police/patrols	11	11	10	11
Create employment opportunities	13	3	5	9
Infrastructure, housing, develop informal areas	9	4	14	9
End corruption	2	1	0	1
Build more schools	2	0	1	1
Involve community	1	1	1	1
Total	100	100	100	100

Few people (less than one in ten) believed that creating employment opportunities, providing infrastructure, housing and development and building more schools were the most important activities that the government could undertake to make Durban safer.

However, attitudes did vary significantly based on race. White respondents were three and a half times more likely to call for harsher punishment than Africans (table 12). Not surprisingly (due to their better economic status), whites were the least likely of all race groups to think that the government should focus on employment and development. It is significant that African respondents were more inclined to say that the government should improve police effectiveness and increase their numbers than white people. This probably reflects the better standards of policing in white areas. However, the fact that half of all white respondents called for harsher punishment also indicates a substantial lack of confidence in the government’s ability to provide safety in general.

When asked what the government should to do, other than policing, to make the Durban metropolitan area safer, nearly half of the respondents indicated the provision of employment opportunities (table 13). Although people were discouraged from thinking about policing interventions, a significant proportion (30%) nevertheless said that harsher punishment was needed. Few thought that changing norms and values, encouraging community action or providing infrastructure, was important. As with the previous question, views differed according to race. Africans were much more likely to believe that employment and infrastructure were important. Whites, Asians and coloureds were more likely than Africans to identify the need for harsher punishment and justice.

What individuals could do

Effective crime reduction depends on building partnerships and engaging in joint efforts between government actors and members of those communities that are affected by crime. Respondents in the survey were therefore asked an open-ended question, not only about what they thought the government should do to make the city safer, but also what they could do.

The most common response was that people could work with the police (table 14). Activities such as volunteer work, participating in community police forums, reporting crime to the police, assisting the police and providing them with information about crime, were mentioned by respondents. A quarter said that taking precautions would improve their safety. These measures included activities such as keeping doors locked, being more aware and avoiding high crime areas. ‘Community action’ was also mentioned by a significant number of respondents. Included in this category were activities such as community patrols, assisting neighbours and friends, and becoming involved in community projects.

Table 14: What individuals said they could do to make Durban safer, by race

	African	White	Asian	Total
	%	%	%	%
Work with the police	46	46	25	40
Take precautions	4	38	51	24
Community action	24	7	12	18
Youth programmes	9	0	3	6
Create employment	9	0	2	5
Awareness about crime	8	6	1	5
Self-defence, weapons	0	3	7	3
Total	100	100	100	100

Views on what individuals could do to improve safety differed according to race. African and white respondents were much more likely to want to work with the police than Asians. Similarly, community action and youth programmes were more popular among Africans than other respondents.

The greatest difference in opinion was in the proportion of people who said they could take precautions as a safety measure. Only 4% of Africans suggested this, compared to 38% of whites and 51% of Asians. This correlates to some extent with the findings in chapter 8 on whether victims changed their behaviour after experiencing a crime. These results showed that African victims — of all types of crime covered in the study — were less likely to change their behaviour than white or Asian victims. The types of behaviour change described by respondents were similar to those described here as ‘taking precautions’. The most obvious explanation for this trend relates to the cost of improving security or changing lifestyle patterns. The perception may also be that crime levels are so high in African areas that taking precautions, being more aware and avoiding high crime areas are either pointless or impossible. However, the results suggest that there is scope for increasing awareness of ways to minimise the risk of victimisation among African people in Durban.

The results are nevertheless encouraging. They indicate that, despite decades of feeling distrustful and fearful of the police, many people were prepared to work with the police to enhance their safety. Efforts by members of the South African Police Service to improve their relationship with citizens must therefore be succeeding.

It is also a positive sign that people were prepared to share responsibility for their own safety in constructive ways. Community or individual initiatives to prevent crime should not be taken for granted. In a recent victim survey conducted in Dar es Salaam, for example, between 14% and a quarter of respondents said there was nothing they could do to improve safety. None mentioned taking precautions or being more alert.23

Overall, the findings indicate that people in Durban believed that better policing and criminal justice would improve levels of safety in the city. This is clear both with regard to government-led interventions and individual or community-based action. While people recognised the importance of job creation and development in reducing crime, the concept of ‘safety’ was clearly associated with policing and justice.