Criminal activities on Robben Island are severely tainting the image of the country and are negatively contributing towards creating bad image of South Africa to the world.

The negative publicity which has followed as a result of criminal elements on Robben Island is not contained on our shores. It also reaches the global community at large, which further entrenches negative perceptions that crime is rampant in South Africa. This affects the success of tourism in the country as well as de-swaying potential investors from approaching our country.

It is not clear at this stage how crime can occur on the island when the community itself is small and close knit and it can be said that all the people know each other. One possibility is that criminals enter as sightseers. But It is still not clear how crimes such as rape are not easily identifued at control posts.

This issue needs to be probed and thoroughly investigated in order to identify where the vulnerability is occurring. Control mechanism at entry points need to be tightened and intense monitoring mechanisms need to be put in place.

It has to be acknowledged that if the government does not take control of this problem, it will only perpetuate negative perceptions about our country to the global community while posing a hurdle for the economic development of the country which can positively be influenced by tourism and investment.

This greatly depends on perceptions of stability in a country which points to crime and the control thereof.