The Africa Organized Crime Index highlights South Africa's significant and worsening problem with organized crime, driven by state-embedded actors and various criminal markets, though the country also possesses notable resilience factors.
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The criminal economy in South Africa is
under the spotlight in the latest Africa
organized crime index. We get the latest
from Vim of the Institute for Security
Studies. Welcome Villim.
>> Hello Chris. Thank you for having me.
>> You're welcome.
Tell us where South Africa ranks. Give
us the dark picture.
>> Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yesterday was a launch
of the Africa organized crime index from
a South African perspective. Uh it is in
cooperation with the INAC program of
course the GI talk ISS as well as
Interpol that contributed to this uh as
part of the program. So uh so it was
very very interesting to to to unpack
and see what is the latest. You know the
the organized crime index is is
published every two years and it's been
running now for eight years. So we were
able to look at eight years of data and
to unpack that and bring that together
uh in order to form uh the index and
also uh to to to get a get a bigger
picture. We must remember this is an
index. It's not it's not something that
is quantitatively being researched is an
index. It provides you with guidelines
and also it doesn't work on percentages.
It works on a point system from 1 to 10.
So if you look at your criminality index
what we're going to discuss now it gives
it a score of from one to 10 where 10 is
the worst but also you have your your
resilience index and the resilience is
what is important for us as well because
those are the good things that are being
done and those are the things that are
actually countering the criminality in
in in the continent and everywhere else.
So so there we're looking also at those
factors. So uh if you look at the at the
index like I said it was it was launched
yesterday. Uh this is the index we will
provide you with the URL that the
viewers can actually have a look at it.
So we see that every two years we bring
out a uh index like this and it it it
actually serves as a as a guidance as a
tool for governance and quite quite
reliable when it comes to forming your
your opinion and also to indicate where
your challenges and of course where the
areas are that we have to look at. Now
in order to look at this uh at this uh
index uh there are three things that we
look at. First of all, you look at your
criminality act actors. Who are those
actors that are actually driving it? Who
are those actors that actually uh uh
facilitate this criminality? And there
we have uh uh we have five actors that
we are looking at and unfortunately and
I think it came out in recent months in
South Africa as well. Your state
embedded actors are actually driving the
agenda. If it were not for them, it
would not have been possible to have
these type of criminality levels. And if
we talk about state embedded actors,
we're looking at from a political level,
the highest all through to the lowest
levels, but also your operational level
from the highest command up to the the
the the customs official or the
policeman at the border post or that one
taking a bribe next to the road when
they are uh uh enforcing traffic rules
for instance. But we know that they
cannot act alone. It takes two to deny.
So the other actors are looking at uh
especially in South Africa it became
very prevalent is your mafia style
groups that how do they perform what
what is their influence? Then we look at
your criminality networks and those
networks are your syndicates that are
that are operating that came to the four
also now in the recent events uh in
South Africa. And then we're looking at
foreign actors. Remember we're looking
at transnational organized crime. uh
South Africa is not an island. South
Africa is within uh the region. South
Africa has got neighbors. We've got
borders borders and and of course there
are further field international actors
like if we look at for instance the the
the drug trade where we had the the the
Mexicans that were arrested here in
South Africa just an example. And then
of course what is very important and
that is where where the majority of the
people come in even though it is not as
prevalent it is really active and that
is your your your private sector actors
you know the private sector also benefit
from and that we saw also in the recent
events. So so those are the criminality
or the criminal actors that are driving
your your your organized crime. But then
how do we how do we measure it? You
cannot measure every little crime that
has been committed. So we had to look at
your your actors and we had to focus on
them where we were able to get the data
from on from them etc etc. So there are
15 markets as we call it criminal
markets that we look at and we evaluated
we compare them in the in in in a
country in a national context in a
regional context but also in a
continental context as well as an
international context with a global
index. So if you look at that, I'm just
going to mention for instance human
trafficking. Human trafficking very
prevalent in South Africa at the moment.
Human smuggling quite high up there.
Extortion, protection, raketeering.
We're looking at the arms trafficking.
We're looking at uh the trade in
counterfeit goods that is huge,
tremendous spike over the last two
years. Uh we also look at your your
illicit trade in in excisible goods. uh
uh flora crimes and and and that is very
interesting. Your flora crimes had a a
tremendous spike and it became very
prominent and we don't we don't always
appreciate that but the market the
criminal markets for that is is is is
extremely extremely rampant and it grew
with with great strides in not only in
South Africa but in the region as well.
Uh there was a paper released last year
on on on uh your succulent smuggling and
and now we saw some arrest in South
Africa but also in Namibia where those
syndicates came under under the
spotlight and they were arrested but we
talking about hundreds of millions of
rants that is going into into that uh uh
industry and then we look at your
nonrenewal sources resources crime the
heroin crime and this is one one that is
very uh very interesting even though
South Africa is part of of the southern
route where the heroin is coming. We saw
that globally there was a decline in the
heroin rate in South Africa as well. But
there was a spike in your in your
synthetic drugs trade and also in the in
the cocaine trade. Uh that is that is
interesting. Then you we we look at the
at the the cocaine trade, the uh
cannabis trade, the synthetic drugs
trade, the cyber dependent crimes
nowadays. virtually any crime that has
been committed has got some element of
cyber with with the use the utilize etc
etc and then your financial crimes those
are new indicators that were added uh in
in 2023 and we saw also a steady rise in
South Africa when it comes to that so
this is this is on the bad side now if
you look at the positive if you look on
the positive side you see your your
resilience indicators now this is very
important when a country like South
Africa that ranks quite high when it
comes to even in the world when it comes
to criminality
that those countries traditionally have
quite a low resilience factor but South
Africa is one of nine countries in the
world that's cost that's got a fairly
high resilience factor as well that
actually counts into our favor if we
utilize it correctly because it's
already there is there to be exploited
is there to be implemented and it's also
there to counter the the criminality.
Then we're looking at political
leadership and governments. We're
looking at government transparency and
accountability. Uh we're looking at
international cooperation, national
policies and laws, your judicial system
and detention, law enforcement, uh
territorial integrity, anti-moneyaundering,
anti-moneyaundering,
uh economic regulatory capacity, victim
and witness support and protection. That
is important prevention and also your
non-state actors. That is very
important. Your non-state actors are are
actually coming in as a counter and also
almost as as as the conscience of of of
governments that is is keeping them in
line if they play their role correctly.
So those are are are are really uh the
indicators that we are looking at and we
see that as I mentioned South Africa is
very unique out of more than a 100
countries that we are one of them that
have got a fairly high resilience factor
that is actually the highest in Africa.
So so that is that is very important. So
uh uh I don't know if we stop there and
you can you can ask another question
then we can go into into where South
Africa fits etc. No, let's let's first
go into where South Africa fits before I
ask you whether we do have the ability
to get out of the grip of organized crime
crime
especially since it is so deeply
embedded in the state.
>> Yeah. Yeah. That's a very good question.
Yeah. If you look at South Africa, you
know, if you look at the 2022 index, 20
then then we see that 2023 index, we see
that South Africa ranked number three in
Africa and uh and number seven in the
world in terms of criminality. And now
that is where you don't want to be. And
uh if you look at the countries that are
the main role players uh we see that uh
traditionally Nigeria and uh and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo they
were fighting for for for the number one
spot. Uh they were almost almost there
and and and really they were competing
for that and South Africa was not very
distant in the third place but we were
we were we were down there. We see with
the new index, South Africa actually
moved up to number two where our
criminality actually spiked compared to
that of the DRC as well as that of
Nigeria. Nigeria moved down to number
four. Uh and that that is not a good
testimony for South Africa. That is not
where we want to be. uh also what we we
see is if you look at your your your
reasons for that your your economic hubs
if you look in Africa south of the Sahel
you see that your west Africa your
economic hub and powerhouse is Nigeria
and that is why they are being targeted
there's more opportunity systems are in
place etc etc and if you look at the
east east Africa we see that Kenya is a
powerhouse and we saw that c Kenya came
in at number four in terms of
criminality see it indicating to us that
that your criminals are targeting your
financial hubs because of opportunity
and because at the end of the day uh
crime and organized crime is all about
money rich quick money and and and a lot
of money and then of course you see
South Africa in the south that is a
powerhouse. So so that is that is
basically just a short uh sort of
summary of of of what is going on in uh
in the in the continent in terms of of
of criminality. Robertson, the small
town in the middle of nowhere where a
wine farmer claims to have sold a forks
bargain up to we buy cars.
>> A farmer? What car did you really sell them?
them?
>> A VW
>> right here in Robinson.
>> Small town, but we know about we buy cars.
cars.
>> Yeah, but what's a farmer doing with a
VW up?
>> It was just a runaround.
>> Cool cover story. And I see you traded
it in for this uh like a double cab.
Were they all out of ranges?
>> We buy cars. The easiest way to sell
So can we extract ourselves from this
triad vom or not?
>> Yeah, it's a it's a problem. South
Africa faces severe challenge. It start
with political uh will uh in order to
tackle it. uh because at the end of the
day, if you look at your state embedded
actors, you look at the policies and you
look at all of all of the things that
that actually make up uh your
resilience. We see that it is a lot of
that is in the hand of governance. So if
governments come together and they and
they they get their act together uh then
then our our outlook will improve.
You're not going to change it. We look
at at several models and models within
this over the next 25 years. It seems
that should South South Africa actually
start to implement the the right things
and move in the right, it will take up
to 25 years before we can actually be in
the green when it comes to criminality.
So so so it's it's a long road ahead of
us. We we have to to battle and there
need to be that political world. One
thing that I think that is that is
important Chris that uh you know we look
at FATF and we look at the gray listing
it hurt South Africa tremendously and we
just been removed from the from the list
but also it placed the focus on our
deficiencies. It placed a focus on the
the money laundering. It placed a focus
on the criminality. It placed the focus
on also on our lack of legislation and
instruments in order to curb it. So we
had to get them in place. So if we
follow suit and and and f and and and do
the same with all the other legislations
or the other regulations and the
implementation of that uh then then we
should be able to start to turn the ship
around in terms of criminality
>> in 25 years time
>> 25 years time yeah
>> I don't know what to say
>> it's it's it's you know it's positive to
some extent that that at least there's
there's there's light at the end of the
tunnel but it's going to take hard work.
It's going to take hard work. It's going
to go gradually better and in 25 years
time. If we follow that model and and
and and and and uh uh you know implement
it correctly, we will be in the green.
That means that we will relatively be
free from from from organized crime and
syndicate. So remember, you're never
going to to completely eliminate that.
You're never going to completely
eliminate corruption. You can put up
hurdles for that and you can make it
more difficult for them to because it
will always be there. They say human
nature. It's how you manage it and how
you make it more difficult for them in
order to to operate freely. And that is
also what came to to the front in in
recent months is how these things were
facilitated for these criminal actors in
terms of capturing our judicial system
and the policing.
>> You know that turnaround in 25 years
time would depend on consistent
political will application.
How likely is that?
>> Well, you know, anything is likely in
South Africa. We know that and and it
depends on the pressure that we put on
on on on governance and a lot of other
things and and and also you know South
Africa uh is is is a resilient nation
and that is demonstrated in in our res
resilience factor as well. We have
always been resilient and uh and I think
we can pull it through but it's not
going to be easy and it's also going to
take a lot of effort not only from
government side but from all the actors.
Remember we we mentioned who are the
actors that are contributing it. The
private sector is also playing a major
role in that.
>> Vim let's go to one of the organized
crimes human trafficking. What can you
tell us about the allegations being made
that Dudilizi Zuma has trafficked people
to Russia to be used in the war against
Ukraine? She says she took them there in
good faith.
>> Yeah. Yeah. We we just have to to to
reiterate that remember it's unfolding.
Uh this this case is being uh
investigated. We don't know what the
charges are. what we believe that the
charges have been laid are that of human
trafficking but also of under under the
foreign mercenary act as well as fraud.
So those are being investigated at the
moment. And what is what is
just a demonstration of of the severity
uh of the case and and that that that
especially uh law enforcement is placing
on that they transferred the case to the
cats uh unit and that's the crimes
against the state unit in in the DPCI
your within your hawks and they normally
they uh investigate these serious cases.
So, so we believe with the resources
that they have and also the skills that
are embedded there that this will be a
thorough investigation and and that it
will uh uh you know it will go in great
depths in order to to to build a very
good case if there's a case because at
the end of the day you still you know
there's a lot of allegations there's a
lot of uh mut swinging but at the end of
the day they have to get all the
evidence there and they have to build a
primal case uh in terms of this
legislation and uh and then of course
then the NPA they will have to to to
decide whether they're going to
prosecute prosecute or not and uh
whether they got a strong case otherwise
it will be referred back for further
investigation and to see if they got a a
case there. But given that if we look at
what is on the table and what we know we
see that the statements from the people
that are there and also the relatives it
seems that they have been deceived. Uh
there was uh one one report that even
indicated that the the contracts that
were signed were in Russia. So, so these
South Africans signing a a contract, a
legally binding contract then uh in in
in a foreign language they don't
understand. I mean that was just not not
the very bright from them but also part
of the process to m to to deceive them
into that and we also see that some of
them said that they will be going to to
Kenya and they will be getting some
different training etc etc and they
ended up there in in in an area where
where you know if you look at at the uh
the Donbas area we see that on both
sides of of of of the Ukrainian side as
well as the Russian side your your
casualties are are in in the thousands
even per day depending on the severity
of the of the battle. So what we we
could gather is that these uh these
people that are there they they have not
been on the front line. They were just
behind the front line. But uh but
according to some reports over the
weekend, they indicated that these
people will now be uh move to the front
line because they're tired of their
whining because they've been complaining
too much. And so so that that means that
uh that it it might not end up well for
them. If you look at the the the the
casualty or mortality rate of these
people, you know, they they they refer
to this as a meat grinder sort of
strategy where bodies are just being
thrown and thrown and wave after wave.
Even criminals released from prison to
go and fight there have been sent there
and your mercenaries uh under the
Wakland group and so on. So, so they
they kept on sending these people,
replacing them with bodies in order to
overwhelm the defenses of of the
Ukraine. But the mortality rate there is
extremely high. So should these people
end up there, them coming back to South
Africa alive, you know, the chances will
be very strong.
>> But former President Jacob Zuma has
often sent people to Russia for military
training. Uh so I don't think these
people had any reason to suspect that
something was that they were going to
end up in a war zone. I think they
thought they were coming back highly
trained for military purposes.
>> Yeah, we saw we saw some indications as
far back as as 2015 2016 uh that uh that
some of them were sent there and uh they
returned and then they were actually
trained here as as uh what was according
to reports as as super agents and
integrated into some of our agencies. Uh
so those those training has been
ongoing. It it seems to us for for some
time. And so these people uh but also
what we saw is there are indications
according to the to the statement that
of of of the of the the daughter that
actually laid the charges that seven to
eight of those people that were sent
there were actually family me family
members of the Zuma family. So sending
your own family into into death way it's
it's is really into harm's way is is
really you know it's next level but all
of that will come out of course in the
investigations and I'm looking forward
to see what will unfold in that case
because this is a this is a new uh case
for South Africa you know if you look at
your mercenary act we've got the two we
got the one of 98 we've got the one of
of 2006 uh where where it criminalizes
the recruitment and and the facilitate
ing and and also the fighting for
foreign groups but also foreign
countries but uh what is in you know and
even even uh the uh the the uh
assistance with with asbetics. So so you
you cannot it really it really sort of
criminalizes all of these things that
that are actually happening there now it
seems to us and once it's been
criminalized uh you know they the the
they can be investigated here and they
can be charged and and prosecuted. But
what we saw in the past, especially with
the 1998 act, there were several people
that returned from Iraq and and from
from other countries in in Liberia, for
instance, where they went to fight there
and and they there's an option in the
legislation for a fine. So they they
actually all of the people as far as my
my my my information goes is that they
uh they actually negotiated with
prosecution and they paid a fine. So
these acts have this legislation has
never been tested in court. So this will
be the first time should it goes to
court that it will be tested in court
and and normally you know then then it
is it it's a 50/50 chance whether they
could find some some some gaps there.
The prosecution will will will have to
have their their eyes peeled and and and
they will cut out for them to in order
to do that. So, it's a lot of
uncertainty, but it is interesting times
because it is so contentious and not not
that South Africans are only being
targeted for for for recruitment in
terms of human trafficking uh uh uh to
to to Russia. The other one, the the
ladies that were recruited by by that uh
influencer to to go and work in the in
the drone or the missile factory. And
and then we also saw that currently in
in Myanmar and in Thailand, we have
South Africans that have been trafficked
there under false pretenses to go. It is
very easy to happen especially in our
our environment where our our
unemployment rate is very high. You you
sitting with a lot of even skilled
people that that cannot find job
opportunities and these people normally
come up and they come up with very
lucrative I mean if you look at the
people in in in the dawnbas they they
they spoke about $40,000 US a month that
they were offered. Now that's a lot of
money for every for in in any any
language and and and especially for a
young person that doesn't have a a job.
>> Do you know whether those South Africans
uh who escaped
uh after being trafficked via Thailand
into a scam compound where they are all
home now?
>> Unfortunately, according to my
information, they are not home home as
yet. You know, there's not a lot of uh
interest from from from Derk to to
actively participate in that. So, so
according to our information and then
what what what happens is you've got
some NOS's that actually set up a fund
and they are bringing them back as the
money comes in for for for these uh uh
the air tickets that they have to supply
to these people. uh just over a week ago
we were fortunate to to to be in
conversation with one of the returnees
that actually opened up and explained to
us what uh the the the orals that they
had to go through but also the
challenges that they face there. So it's
an ongoing process. If you look at
countries like like Kenya, they for
instance send a plane and they they
brought all their people back that were
there. We saw that Namobia also sent
tickets and they and they they managed
to bring their their people back because
you know it's it it's more than I think
36 countries that are being targeted at
the moment that are there and a lot of
them from Africa but it seems that that
the only challenge that we have in South
Africa is actually the the the active
assistance to bring the people back.
>> Maybe with all the money they've have
borrowed at the G20 they might find some
for plane tickets for them.
Hopefully so because you know those
people are desperate when they go of
course they will compromise or they they
were not uh yeah they were lured into
this and and they and and and they uh
they received a single ticket there not
a return ticket. So you know if you
don't have a job and you need money and
you go for this uh you know chances of
you being able to afford a return ticket
after you've been scammed there for for
for years and months then is very slim.
So, so it is it is really a desperate
situation for these people and uh and
and also not very good for South Africa.
You know, uh if you look at the index,
we see that one of the the uh indicators
of the the criminal markets that
actually spiked in South Africa is human trafficking.
trafficking.
>> And ironically, some of them have ended
up in prison for overstaying their visa
um for no, you know, through no fault of
their own.
>> Of course. Yeah. and and and and you
know the challenge is because uh it's
two countries you've got Thailand where
we've got good representation etc etc in
terms of our our foreign affairs we we
do not have the same in Myanmar Myanmar
is a country in conflict it's very
unstable there and it seems that the
majority of the abuses there actually
took place there at one stage we were
also informed that once the people have
been rescued from the compound uh and we
saw that in China they also arrested
some of the people or the perpetrators
that actually uh run those compounds. So
that's a good good sign. But what what
we saw is that apparently some of the
soldiers from Myanmar, they they kept
these people hostage and they demanded a
ransom in order to release the South
Africans back to Thailand. So so so you
know it's it's really a very is a dire
situation for those people that have
been exposed. uh when when we we uh uh
listen to this uh person who who who
provided us with some some some
information uh you know it it is
extremely traumatizing for for for these
people and being exploited like that uh
and so on. So so apart from the
criminality and all the other factors
you know it takes a toll on on on on
them as well.
>> Indeed. Thank you. That was Villim of
the Institute for Security Studies
speaking to Biz News. I'm Chris Stain.
Thank you Villim.
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