In anticipation of the 2010 soccer world cup in South Africa: occurance of street robberies on Durban's "golden mile"

• Main Authors: Steyn, J, de Beer, M, Fouché, H
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: Acta Criminologica 2009
• Subjects: Durban’s Golden Mile; South African Police Service
• Online Access: http://encore.tut.ac.za/iii/cpro/DigitalItemViewPage.external?sp=1001259

ABSTRACT Durban's “Golden Mile” is the city’s most prominent tourist attraction and contributed ± R225 million towards much needed job creation and poverty alleviation in the region during the 2007 financial year, a trend which is set to increase dramatically during the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) 2010 Soccer World Cup, which was awarded to the Republic of South Africa. The City of Durban will host eight World Cup matches, including a semi-final at the newly designed Moses Mabhiba World Cup 2010 Stadium. The high incidence of violent crimes committed against tourists, which is also reported on in the international media, has caused the concern that if tourists perceive the beachfront to be unsafe they will be hesitant to visit Durban again, while the likelihood also exists that they might discourage other potential visitors. This paper is an attempt to provide input to the discourse on the matter based on empirical research. Much of the research on crime and tourism is founded on economic models of criminal behaviour. The current study contributes to the expanding crime and tourism literature by providing facts and accurate statistics instead of anecdotal information on violent crime and tourism, more specifically with regard to the so-called “street robberies”. From the data collected and analysed, it will become evident that during 2006, 90% of the street robberies reported to Golden Mile hotel security was not documented in the form of a case docket with the SAPS. Through the use of qualitative data analysis techniques such as theming, coding and categorising, the study will also reveal that all the respondents who completed the open-ended questionnaire are of the opinion that preliminary crime scene investigation of street robberies committed against tourists on Durban’s Golden Mile was, for a variety of reasons, ineffective. Finally, based on the relevant literature as well as the findings of the study, a number of recommendations will be put forward.