Research has revealed that 78% of Gauteng residents fear an increase in crime during load shedding. This was revealed during the release of the 7th Quality of Life Survey in Sandton, north of Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
The survey was done by the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO), in partnership with the Gauteng government, the University of Johannesburg, Wits University and the South African Local Government Association (Salga).
Almost 14 000 respondents were targeted for this survey.
GCRO’s director of research strategy, Graeme Gotz says load shedding has had long-lasting impacts.
“Some of the impacts of load shedding will last much longer. 30% say that load shedding has impacted in some way on [their] livelihood. Similarly, there’s a lot of expenditure that went out of the household pocket because of load shedding and of course, you don’t get that money back. Spend more money on food, had to cook with alternative energy sources.”
‘Crime linked to poor service delivery’
Speaking during the release, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi says the high levels of crime in the province can be linked to poor service delivery.
Lesufi says there’s a need for a massive response to the escalating levels of crime in the province.
“To me, it means massive intervention at the level of fighting crime. And that’s the aspect that we have elevated as government. That if you can’t fight crime in Gauteng, forget about everything. The level of crime is completely unacceptable.”
The survey is conducted every two to three years and measures progress in terms of the safety, health, socio-economic status, and quality of life of Gauteng residents.
