ZIMBABWE National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) tells us that last year the crime rate surged by 45% from 143 923 cases in the first quarter to 208 027 in the last quarter of 2022.
These are very disturbing statistics. And National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi says: “There are several issues that have contributed to the rise in criminal activities.
“We have the issue of robberies — we have noted that business people have been keeping large sums of money in their homes, which has attracted robbers. There have been information leakages from within business organisations, with insiders providing leads to the robbers. We also had several cases of cash-in-transit heists, where the security companies have had their guards involved. There is also the issue of murder cases, where domestic disputes have claimed so many lives. On the issue of resources they can never be enough for policing. We need fuel on a daily basis and some of our vehicles are worn out, but government has mobilised resources and the work is in progress.” While we support all initiatives being made to put a lid on crime, we believe the reasons for Zimbabwe’s crime surge are more economic than anything else.
If robbers are targeting people who are keeping large sums of money at home, why are those people keeping their money at home when there are so many banks in the country? Why is it now unsafe to keep one’s money in the bank?
On the issue of security guards getting involved in cash-in-transit heists, what is motivating them? Why are the guards opting to risk their livelihoods by getting involved in the robberies? And on domestic disputes that degenerate into murders, what is driving those disputes in the first place?
We believe for Zimbabwe to reduce the high level of crime, these are some of the questions that need to be addressed first because mobilising resources to equip the police to effectively deal with rising crime.
The day government wakes up to the glaring reality that the country’s economy is in the doldrums and many livelihoods are currently in tatters, the earlier it will be able to resolve many pressing issues such as crime affecting the southern African nation.
Many people are no longer banking their money because there is little to no benefit in doing so. In fact, in Zimbabwe, banking money is stressful because instead of earning interest, one loses all their savings through usurious bank charges. Besides past experience, given the country’s unrelenting economic downturn, banking money is risky business, which has resulted in people now keeping their money at home where it is exposed to an army of unemployed loafers trying to make ends meet in a tanking economy.
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So it’s our conviction that it is the economy which is the root cause of all such problems as rising crime in Zimbabwe because in a thriving economy, hardly are such high levels of thuggery witnessed.
Zimbabwe’s rising crime rate is a symptom of a broken and sick economy. We may yap and whine about the high crime rate, but as long as no tangible efforts are being made to turn around the country’s economic fortunes, we can only expect the worst ahead.
