Why SA's murder rate may continue to rise
South Africa has stubbornly high rates of violent crime. More concerning, though, is that the latest crime stats suggest the recent increase in murders is not slowing
South Africa struggles with very high levels of crime and violence. Take the crime statistic on murder rates. The country ranks in the top 10 worst countries that report crime statistics according to the most recent data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Crime rate comparisons between countries are fraught with challenges and should be understood as broad indications rather than accurate quantitative relationships. Nevertheless, South Africa by any measure has a serious crime problem. What insights can be gleaned from the latest annual crime statistics released by South Africa’s police? What the numbers say To draw meaningful conclusions about longer term trends it is necessary to use rates per 100 000 people in the population. For the last few years South Africa’s police force has opted to publicise only the raw figures for the number of crimes recorded. This doesn’t account for population growth over time, or differences in population sizes between regions or town...
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