2007年VOA标准英语-South African Assaults Heighten Crime Debate Be

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
08 February 2007

Crime in South Africa, as in many countries, is a daily occurrence. But a series of attacks on prominent citizens, following some dismissive remarks by senior officials, has intensified¹ an emotional national political debate over the crime issue as the government prepares Friday to open its parliamentary year. Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from Johannesburg.

 
Thabo Mbeki (file photo)
South African President Thabo Mbeki delivers his annual state of the nation speech Friday to the opening session of parliament. And calls are coming from various sectors² of society for him to make a strong statement on the high level of violent crime in the country.

The Solidarity³ trade union has launched a campaign of e-mails to the president asking him to declare crime a national crisis.

Solidarity spokesman, Jaco Kleynhans, says in the first 48 hours his organization received more than 17,000 letters.

"South Africans are really angry, sad, and disturbed by the levels of crime in our country, but they are also positive in the letters that people write to the president," he said. "They tell him about things that they believe need to be done to address the very high levels of crime in South Africa."

The campaign gained momentum⁵ after Mr. Mbeki, in an interview on national television, said that crime, though a serious problem, had declined steadily⁶ since the end of apartheid 13 years ago.

"Nobody can show that the overwhelming majority of these, 40 million, 50 million South Africans think that crime is out of control. Nobody can, because it is not true," he said.

President Mbeki's spokesman, Mukoni Ratshitanga, says the government is engaged on a daily basis in the fight against crime.

"The fight against crime continues with or without an e-mail campaign, which in our view is counterproductive because what it does is, it polarizes the atmosphere rather than partnering [with] the government in the fight against crime," he said.

 
A robber lays dead after allegedly being shot by a private security guard during a cash delivery robbery in a shopping center in Johannesburg, 25 Sept 2006
Last year, South Africa recorded 18,000 murders, 55,000 rapes⁷ and 120,000 incidents of violent crime. The country's crime rate is 50 times that of Great Britain and 13 times that of the United States.

Public attention has been heightened in recent weeks because of attacks on prominent entertainers, intellectuals, and businessmen, several of whom died.

Some officials say privately⁸ that the uproar⁹ over crime has mostly come from the country's white minority, which is anxious to discredit¹⁰ the government. Solidarity's union members are mostly white.

But as the debate has expanded to radio call-in shows and letters to newspapers, many black South Africans have voiced similar concerns and noted¹¹ that by far the greatest number of victims of violent crime are black.

One of the country's largest banks, First National Bank, this week called off a $3 million campaign of newspaper advertisements containing petitions similar to those of the trade union. The bank came under pressure from some business leaders, but others in the community subsequently spoke⁴ out in support of the effort.

The South African Tourism Services Association this week published a survey in which 75 international foreign tour wholesalers said they would send 50 percent more tourists to South Africa if crime were not a factor in the choice of destination.

And the U.N. Children's Fund, in a preview of its annual report due out next week, said violence against South Africa's women and children had reached unacceptable levels.

As a result, many are waiting for Mr. Mbeki's speech on Friday and activists¹² are promising¹³ to intensify¹⁴ their campaign if they find his position to be too soft on crime.

1 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

6 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

7 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

8 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

9 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

10 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

14 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。