Indians 'softest' targets

Some Indians believe that they are more susceptible to crime than any other race group in South Africa.

This is according to research conducted by Professor Shanta Balgobind Singh, who heads the criminology department at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

This week, Balgobind Singh presented a paper - "Perceptions of Crime and Crimes Committed by People of Indian Origin in South Africa" - at the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (Gopio) convention in Durban.

Last month, she interviewed 100 people in Chatsworth and Tongaat on their perceptions of crime.

She used the Indian community as a starting point for wider research she intends conducting on how the various race groups perceive crime.

According to the findings:

• 36% of those surveyed said Indians were greater targets of crime because there seemed to be a natural hatred of the community by other races. They also believed they were soft targets because they were perceived as being wealthy and having "everything in life";
• 32% of the sample felt that crime affected all South Africans, not only Indians, and was more prevalent in elite areas;
• 25% believed that both Indians and whites were the main targets of criminals, among the reasons being that neither group retaliated;
• 77% of the respondents admitted to having been victims of crime, including attempted murder, robbery, rape, assault, hijacking and murder;

• 54% believed that the death penalty should be brought back to reduce crime.

Balgobind Singh said: "Given South Africa's high crime rates, particularly for violent crime, it seemed plausible that crime and fear of crime should feature as a threat to the quality of life of Indians in South Africa."

Sociologist Ashwin Desai said that though many Indians saw themselves as soft targets, it was a "myth". "This might be class-based, because the rich Indians live behind barricades in Umhlanga and Mount Edgecombe, where they feel safe. The poorer Indians feel vulnerable because they don't have these kinds of securities. This is a class issue, not a race issue."

Logan Chetty, chairman of the Chatsworth Community Policing Forum, agreed with Balgobind Singh's findings.

"Hijackings, which are now common in Chatsworth, target Indians, and many of them don't even report it," said Chetty.

He added that the community were now standing up to crime and refusing to become victims.

Sam Pillay, head of the Chatsworth Anti-Drug and Wellness Centre, said: "We talk about Indians being soft targets all the time. I think it's not about race, it's about what you have that the criminal can get."

Nazir Loonat, an anti-drug activist in Lenasia, said the belief that Indians were soft targets of criminals "was a notion they had adopted over time".

Balgobind Singh's research also looked at Indians as perpetrators of crime. She found that crimes committed by Indians in the past 14 years had increased by more than 40%.

She based her research on statistics from the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons (JIP) in Cape Town - a watchdog body that oversees the treatment of prisoners and prison conditions.

JIP statistics showed that the number of Indians in custody nationally rose from 513 in 1995 to 728 last year.

Balgobind Singh said the nature of crimes perpetrated by Indians was disturbing.

JIP statistics on Indians in custody between 1995 and 2009 showed an increase in aggressive and narcotic-related crimes.

Narcotic-related crimes rose from 26 in 1995 to 77 in 2009, while aggressive crimes increased from 223 in 1995 to 384 last year.

Balgobind Singh said increased criminal activity among Indians was linked to the loss of traditional values.

"Crimes that Indians were once purported to be scarcely embroiled in are becoming an increasing phenomenon."

National police spokesman Senior Superintendent Vish Naidoo said it was difficult to comment on the research without having analysed it. "We keep crime statistics in terms of categories, not in terms of race colour or creed," he said.