IS DEI HIRING LIKE WATCHING A BUS CRASH IN SLOW MOTION? VIEW POINT: South Africa has one of the world's highest incidences of rape and gender based violence in the world. Reported cases of rape range from 72 to 130 cases per 100,000 residents. It is widely believed that most rapes never enter into official statistics. Femicide, the deliberate killing of women, often by an intimate partner is also amongst the highest in the world according to published statistics. It is reasonable to ask why and to ask are their implications in these statistics for our country. This week alone nine female murder victims have been discovered around Johannesburg. At this point they all appear to be individual unrelated cases. The United Nations agency for gender equality has published that ‘femicide figures in South Africa are amongst the highest in the world’. The daily murder rate runs at about 60 victims a day, a rate of 36•6 per 100,000. A South African ‘think tank’ reported in 2022 that 35% of all women in South Africa experienced a sexual assault at some stage in their lives. Clearly South Africa is a very violent society, particularly towards women. South Africa is a multiracial society composed of peoples from diverse heritages. It would be inaccurate and grossly unfair to tar all the diverse population groups with the same brush. The murder rate within the two communities of European decent is relatively low and is also low within the mixed race or ‘coloured’ communities when compared with the original tribal inhabitants, many of whom live in deprived townships. As in any society where violence is endemic there are mixed reasons for that violence such as deprivation and a lack of education. However I am wondering how much ‘culture’ plays a part as cultural factors are notoriously difficult to measure. Academic articles refer to ‘deep rooted gender inequality, patriarchal norms and structural or cultural challenges’. Plainly there are challenges and dangers for women and girls in South Africa that do not exist in historic European populations. Dr Simon Howell is a senior lecturer at the Cape Town Centre of Criminology and described the problem succinctly when he said that in much of South Africa violence is ‘a problem solving tool’. It is now three decades since the end of apartheid so the native government that is now in place cannot reasonably blame the apparent disrespect for the lives of women and girls on the actions of the former regime. A mindset of violence continues and it is reasonable to consider that ‘culture’ is a major component of that violence. When you leave a township to travel overseas you don’t leave your culture behind you, it comes with you, both the good and the bad. Dublin Bus is recruiting bus drivers from South Africa at the rate of six a week. So far over ninety South African bus drivers work with Dublin Bus. In view of what we know about violence in South Africa it is reasonable to ask is their a risk to the public. So far I am not aware of any violence related problems but I am a great believer in the principle of precaution. Drivers are Garda vetted but this gives no insight into a persons past behaviour in South Africa. Clearly an additional level of vetting is urgently needed for all drivers that come from parts of the world where violence against women is normalised. Perhaps a psychological profile obtained by a questionnaire and separate interview would be a good starting point. DEI principles must be secondary to the safety of women and girls. Let us understand the risk and put mitigation in place that may well mean putting the recruiting focus elsewhere if no Irish drivers are genuinely available.