Official data released by South African police shows that in 2022/23, the nation recorded its highest murder rate in 20-years. Authorities say the statistic was a result of high levels of poverty, unemployment and inequality, compounded by the spread of organized criminal groups and illegal weapons.
In Cape Town, the city where Luke Fleurs grew up, some of his friends joined gangs before they reached high school age, but the former Kaizer Chiefs player found another path. His success story ended abruptly last month when he was killed at a Johannesburg petrol station by someone stealing his car.
The 24-year-old's murder not only sparked public grief due to his profile as a professional footballer, but also highlighted South Africa's crime problem.
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with an average of 75 a day.
FILE—Supersport United's Luke Fleurs in action during the DStv Premiership match between Supersport United and Richards Bay at the Lucas Moripe Stadium, Atteridgeville, South Africa, on January 22, 2023.
Voter frustration over the government's inability to curb rising crime rates is one of the reasons the ruling African National Congress is expected to lose its majority in a May 29 election, after 30 years in power.
Crime was part of the backdrop of Fleurs' upbringing in Mitchell's Plain, a suburb of Cape Town where the apartheid-era government relocated mixed-race families.
"We gave our blessing for him to move to Johannesburg to escape the violence and gangs back home, only (for him) to meet his demise at the peak of his promising football career," his father Theo Fleurs said in an interview.
He said Luke was a sociable child, whose mother earned the nickname "Magic Mom" for feeding all the friends he brought home for dinner.
"It was in these groups of friends that many lost their path and went to join local gangs as early as 12 years old," said Theo Fleurs, a high school janitor and soccer coach, adding that many local boys idolized the gangster lifestyle.
Luke's passion for sports kept him out of trouble, but by young adulthood he had one good friend who was in prison for murder and another killed in a shooting. When he heard about the shooting, he had already moved to Johannesburg. His reaction to the news was to vow to do even better so he could be an inspiration to his friends back home, his father said.
Data released by South African authorities shows that the murder rate in the nation is roughly equivalent to Ecuador's and higher than that of Honduras, a country plagued by extreme gang violence.
FILE—Theodore Fleurs, father of Luke Fleurs, grieves with family and friends at the football player's funeral outside the New Apostolic Church in Mitchell’s Plain, in Cape Town, South Africa, April 20, 2024.
The state's solution, largely focused on recruiting more police, has changed little since the 1990s, said David Bruce, a consultant on policing for the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies.
"The South African policing system needs to adapt to a new world," Bruce said.
The governing African National Congress, ANC, promises voters in the upcoming elections that it will modernize policing, develop capabilities to combat cybercrime and gang violence.
The proportion of murder cases being solved has been declining. In 2022/23, there were 27,494 murders and 2,982 convictions, according to government figures.
"Basically, one in 10 murders is ever solved by the police," said Ziyanda Stuurman, a senior analyst at Eurasia Group who wrote a book about policing in South Africa.
Stuurman said, "there's the general belief that you can get away with murdering somebody, and you're never going to get caught."
Six men have been charged with Fleurs' murder after police tracked his stolen car to Soweto, South Africa's largest township. They have indicated they will plead not guilty.
Most of the suspects, who are in their 20s and 30s, grew up in Soweto and are unemployed. At a recent bail hearing, they sat nervously on the bench, their families gathered behind them.
"When I saw them I didn't feel any hate towards them, the perpetrators, just sadness came over me for what they have done to my son and to South Africa," said Theo Fleurs. "I tried for them to just look at me, I really tried, I wanted them to feel what I feel," he said. None of them met his gaze.