It's the look in their eyes. Unmistakable. Delightful. It's why I do what I do, to see that look in their eyes.

It is a real thrill for me to stand in front of people from all walks of life and of all ages, and talk about stuff that begins the process of eroding fear and creating safety. Facts drop like seeds of hope causing panic and paranoia to wilt and peace and humanity to rise.

We are told that the truth sets people free, but how saddeningly seldom we hear the truth. Really hear it. Even when the truth is spoken, we hear it through the filter of culture, upbringing, fear, perhaps even our prejudice and ignorance.

Take crime. Just this week the annual statistics were released. Articles appeared everywhere under disconcerting, even terrifying, headlines - "Most Feared Crimes Show Steep Rise". We read and often believe such one-sided statistical interpretation, but does it help us to understand the issue?

We regularly chant that we are the "world's crime capital", that people are emigrating because of crime, that we need more police, more technology, tougher policing. We know all of this because we read about it in every magazine and newspaper we open; we talk about it constantly. Dinner tables, coffee tables, boardroom tables - the country's tables are stacked high with the grievances and wisdom of a nation.

It's why I do what I do. In fact, it's why I chose to give up running my own experiential marketing company in London and pursue a career in crime (so to speak). I want as many people as possible to get involved in our nation's safe future. I want to talk about how each of us can play our part. Must we continue to rely on private security, or can we proactively create safe neighbourhoods? Is it possible to live free of the fear that paralyses us into inactivity? There are 49 million of us. Anything is possible.

We know that in order to create safety we need to begin by correcting perceptions of what causes crime, of what crime is.

We know that if we can balance the negativity with positive, action-based solutions driven from within the community, then together we can safeguard our families, businesses and neighbourhoods.

We know that a return to a values-based culture will instill in our youth a sense of respect for self, others and the environment. This will cause peace and tolerance to rise in place of the violence that has become the norm for so many.

For me, every time the penny drops in someone we get one step closer to our goal of a safe South Africa. If we can help ourselves and one another off the roller coaster of fear and misinformation by beginning new, constructive conversations about peace, then we will create the safe South Africa we all dream of.

So let's begin right now. Imagine that you have a "fearometer" located somewhere between your throat and your stomach. Every time you open the Sunday paper, or gather around one of our many "tables of torment" and talk crime with your friends, that fearometer rockets up. Mostly, one goes from peaceful Sunday morning repose to banging hysterically on the closed window of your local travel agent pleading for the night watchman to push a one way ticket to Perth under the door. That's when the fearometer has exploded!

Now, let's look at some facts that usually get me that look I love so much.

Fact 1:
If you smoke, you are (roughly speaking) around 15,000 times more likely to die from smoking-related diseases than from crime. Hence, it is actually safer to stay in the country of your birth and stop smoking than it is to emigrate to Perth and puff on.

How is that fearometer? You see no one ever tells you stuff like that, do they?

Fact 2:
82% of murder in South Africa occurs between people who know each other personally. Less than 18% of murder happens as a result of house and business robberies and hijacking. By ensuring that staff members are paid well and on time, by resolving disputes quickly and respectfully, by living in harmony with your neighbours and family, your chances of getting killed are next to nothing.

How are you doing? Maybe you're feeling relieved. Perhaps empowered to act? Are questions beginning to rise within you? Maybe your cynical self is kicking up a fuss. That's the idea, you see. The idea is that a new conversation gets started, one that drives us towards a positive, proactive outcome for ourselves and our country, and away from the default fear-fuelled fleeing conversations.

Fact 3:
"Ah yes", you say, "but all South Africans know of someone who has been a victim of crime." This is sadly true. I do not want to negate our high crime rate. We ultimately do what we are doing to see this drop to nothing. I simply want to offer some facts so that the wood can be seen for the trees. The fact on this fact is this:

According to the theory of the 6 degrees of separation, we are all a mere 5 people removed from every other person on the planet. This theory was popularised in a dinner party game in which we would prove that we were no more than 5 people (6 if you include yourself) removed from the actor Kevin Bacon. Applied to crime (or anything else for that matter), this theory tells us that you and I are a maximum of 5 people removed from a South African who has been a victim of crime. Unfortunately for all the habitually negative people out there, it also tells us that an American citizen who has never left Plano Dallas Texas is also a maximum of 5 people removed from someone in America who has been the victim of a violent crime.

However, here's the real kicker. The American citizen living in Plano Dallas Texas is also a maximum of 5 people removed from someone who has been a victim of violent crime... in South Africa. So we can all stop with this "did you hear about so-and-so's aunt" fear-mongering. It's normal to be a maximum of a couple of steps away from someone who has been a victim of crime wherever you come from. We have fallen into the trap of over-acting our own drama.

Facts abound that will almost certainly alter your thinking about crime and help you feel empowered to act. Among these are facts regarding the correlation between alcohol, rape and murder, how you can safeguard yourself using the 'weapon' of respect, how more police won't necessarily help to create peace, and how poverty and unemployment don't necessarily lead to increased crime levels.

I invite you to join me in putting an end to crime clichés and myth-sprouting and beginning new conversations about how to create safety. Let us stop pointing fingers at the police and the government and take responsibility for creating the country we want to live in. Let us strive to understand the issues at stake, come together and begin creating peace. 

By Justin Foxton

*************

Justin Foxton is the founder of the national awareness campaign Stop Crime Say Hello. An actor by training, Justin is an engaged and passionate speaker. His presentation is high velocity and aims to reduce fear, provide perspective and cause a "eureka" for each audience member regarding crime in South Africa. Combining research and international best practice, he gives the audience a unique perspective and practical tools to help each person become actively involved in creating a safe South Africa.

For more information visit www.sayhello.co.za or mail Justin on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Share it!