Dirco Spokesperson Slams Zimbabwean Journalist Over Claims That Crime in SA Is Worse Than Zim

• The Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) has criticised a journalist's claims that crime in SOut Africa surpasses crime in Zimbabwe
• Clayton Monyela, the spokesperson for Dirco, responded to the Al Jezeera journalist's tweet by implying that Zimbabwe does not have credible crime stats to back up her claim
• Monyela has a history of slamming forging claims that south Africa has a crime problem that exceeds that of SA’s neighbouring countries

PRETORIA - The spokesperson for the department of international relations and cooperation (Dirco), Clayson Monyela, has condemned claims that South Africa’s crime rate is worse than Zimbabwe's.

Monyela responded to a tweet from Al Jezeera journalist Haru Mutasa, who claimed that the crime rate in South Africa is on another level when compared to Zimbabwe.

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TimesLIVE reported that Mutasa received backlash online after she tweeted that Zimbabwe is a beautiful country without crime, unlike South Africa.

Mutasa tweeted:

Monyela, not one to shy away from online feuds, responded to Mutasa’s tweet with one of his own.

‘I’ll be a good diplomat and resist the temptation to ask you to produce credible stats in your country.”

Monyela responded.

Monyela has historically criticised claims that the crime in South Africa far outreaches crime in neighbouring nations.

Monyela asked the spokesperson for the Eswatini, Alpheus Nxumalo, to provide evidence to support his claim that South Africa is infected with an illness of criminality from head to toe. To which Monyela responded that South Africa wouldn’t endure insults.

Monyela said:

“We’ll use diplomatic channels to see an explanation from the Kingdom of Eswatini regarding this unfortunate statement by their spokesperson. No country is immune from crime.”

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Social media users react

South Africans also had choice words for Mutasa, with some claiming that foreign nationals contribute to South Africa’s crime statistics.

Here are some comments:

@BennyDelPaso asked:

“Better journalism @harumutasa that helps to understand instead to propagate info de-contextualised. Are you saying that Zimbabwe authoritarian regime reports transparently stats crime? How many countries release quarter crime reports and ministers address these press conferences?”

@IkeMash commented:

“They commit heinous crime in our land and claim they are holy.”

@IamPMak added:

“Don't take seriously what this 'journalist' says. She doesn't represent #Zimbabweans.”

@Luupablo replied:

“This is irresponsible.”

Quarterly crime stats show that serious crime and murder are on the rise, alcohol is a key contributor

In a related matter, Briefly News reported that Police Minister Bheki Cele released the quarterly crime statistics at a media briefing on Friday, 19 August. The report covers crimes that were reported between April and June 2022.

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Cele opened the press briefing by stating that there has been a decline in sexual offence cases, with almost 500 fewer rape cases reported compared to the same period last year when South Africa was in lockdown.

News24 reported that 286 rapists were convicted between April and June, with 46 suspects sentenced to life.

Source: Briefly News