Crime-weary South Africa

Rampant crime is influencing voters in South Africa [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. Crime is undermining South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s drive to save his ruling party from [losing its parliamentary majority]( for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994. It’s a top concern of both registered voters and young people, ahead of the May 29 elections, surveys show, and partially overshadows the African National Congress claiming credit for policies such as expanded welfare payments and improving power supply. The World Bank estimates that it costs the economy $40 billion a year, or about 10% of gross domestic product. It blights the [lives of South Africans]( across all social strata, including company executives fretting over security costs and theft, and the millions of poor who fear for their safety in the shanty towns that ring the nation’s cities. The number of murders has risen in nine of the past 10 years — the only respite brought about by the lockdowns that accompanied the Covid-19 pandemic. Supermarket chains run shadow investigative services to support an overstretched police force, and there are 17 private security officers for every policeman. Businesses contend with the likes of looting during protests to extortion rackets at construction sites and attacks on cash-in-transit vans by heavily armed gangs. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime in 2023 ranked South Africa seventh out of 193 nations in terms of the infiltration of organized crime, deteriorating from 19th in 2021. That makes it only marginally better than Colombia, Myanmar and Nigeria. Ramaphosa blames the problem on the rampant corruption and the gutting of the nation’s security and prosecutorial agencies under his predecessor Jacob Zuma. But Zuma was ousted in 2018, and today crime statistics are worse despite the thousands of arrests the government says have been made and Ramaphosa’s recently formed alliance with business to tackle the problem. Come election day, the ANC may pay a steep price for that. — [Antony Sguazzin]( and [Janice Kew]( Luke Fleurs, who played for the Kaizer Chiefs football team, was gunned down during a carjacking near Johannesburg last month. Photographer: Esa Alexander/Reuters Global Must Reads The US paused a shipment of 3,500 bombs to Israel over concern about the long-threatened invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, a senior administration official says. The move marks one of the most prominent [instances of discord]( between the US and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government since the start of the assault against Hamas. The aftermath of an Israeli bombardment of Rafah yesterday. Photographer: AFP/Getty Images President Xi Jinping lauded ties with eastern Europe as a boon for the world’s No. 2 economy as he arrived in Serbia on a trip designed to promote China’s potential [as a trade partner](. Xi, writing in the Hungarian ruling party’s newspaper, portrayed more trade with China as inevitable, even as the European Union unleashes a salvo of probes into Beijing’s booming green sectors. One day after President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration for another six-year term, Russia launched [a missile and drone barrage]( on Ukraine’s power network. The capital, Kyiv, and the western city of Lviv were among the targets of what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called a “massive” attack, pointing out in a post on X that the assault came as countries mark the anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany at the end of World War II. Donald Trump’s intimate moments with an adult film star were heard in open court yesterday as Stormy Daniels described her alleged affair with the former US president [in his hush-money trial](. Daniels is at the center of a case in which Trump is accused of falsifying business records to conceal the nature of a $130,000 payment to her to keep her quiet before the 2016 election. Ghana’s Supreme Court will start hearing a case today that may both threaten the West African country’s $20 billion debt restructuring and test the World Bank’s [commitment to support LGBTQ rights](. The court is being asked to strike down a bill that would jail those who identify as LGBTQ, a decision likely to reverberate way beyond Ghana’s borders, setting a precedent for how the lender handles erosion of human rights globally. German authorities are investigating after a Berlin state minister and former mayor was [attacked by an unidentified assailant](, the latest evidence of an upsurge in political violence ahead of next month’s European Parliament elections. Flooding in Kenya that’s killed hundreds of people and displaced thousands more is helping President William Ruto push one of his [controversial campaign promises](: affordable housing. President Gustavo Petro said Colombia’s institutions suffer from “[structural corruption](” as he tried to distance himself from a recent bribery scandal involving allies. Kim Ki Nam, a propaganda mastermind who helped forge the [cult of personality]( for the family dynasty that has ruled North Korea since its founding in the Cold War, has died at the age of 94. Washington Dispatch Joe Biden today will begin [another round]( of campaign fundraisers with one in Chicago and three more, in northern California and Seattle, planned for Friday. The president has intensified his quest for donations as he continues to wield a substantial money advantage over his presumptive Republican rival, Trump. The fundraisers continue as Trump has been forced to spend several days a week in the Manhattan courtroom where he is on trial over allegations that he falsified business records. Biden and the Democratic Party raised more than $90 million in March. They ended the month with $192 million cash on hand, roughly $100 million more than his opponent and the Republican National Committee. Trump and the RNC said they raised $76 million in April, while Biden’s campaign has yet to report its tally. Trump, however, plans to step up his own fundraising with events coming up in New York, Kentucky and Las Vegas, Nevada. One thing to watch today: Biden is to announce a major investment by Microsoft in Racine County, Wisconsin, drawing a contrast with Trump, whose own plans for a flagship technology project by Foxconn at the same site fizzled. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 1 and 5 p.m. ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day Renewables provided a record 30% of global electricity last year as the growth of wind and solar power continued to far outpace that of fossil fuels. That trend is [set to accelerate this year](, according to data from energy think tank Ember. “The decline of power-sector emissions is now inevitable,” said Dave Jones, Ember’s director of global insights. And Finally About 471 million female voters — almost as many as males — in India will help decide whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi wins office for a third time in the ongoing elections. His Bharatiya Janata Party has won the last two elections decisively — and has steadily build up support among women. That’s thanks to Modi’s star power, as well as [populist and welfare initiatives](, including a free-food program that targets some 800 million Indians, universal availability of toilets, and programs that help women sign up for bank accounts. Women supporters attend a Modi campaign rally in Uttar Pradesh on April 25. Photographer: Prakash Singh/Bloomberg More from Bloomberg - Check out our [Bloomberg Investigates]( film series about untold stories and unraveled mysteries - [Bloomberg Opinion]( for a roundup of our most vital opinions on business, politics, economics, tech and more - [Next Africa](, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed - [Economics Daily]( for what the changing landscape means for policy makers, investors and you - [Green Daily]( for the latest in climate news, zero-emission tech and green finance - Explore more newsletters at [Bloomberg.com](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? 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