Easy access to alcohol and drugs is driving crime in Cape Town and Durban
The availability of alcohol and its role in fuelling crime has come under scrutiny, in a new report released on Wednesday.The State of Urban Safety Report drew some interesting links between crime and other ills in society.The report shows that Cape Town’s population is growing slower than Johannesburg and Tshwane’s‚ and has the lowest level of poverty (as measured by the Human Development Index); the lowest income inequality and the second-lowest youth unemployment rate of all the cities."And yet Cape Town has extremely high levels of crime," the researchers note. "So‚ what is driving crime? An answer may lie in the disproportionate access to alcohol‚ drugs and firearms‚ which is more than twice that of any other city."This suggests that access to alcohol‚ drugs and firearms should be one of the more productive areas for crime reduction policy focus."The report was compiled by members of the Urban Safety Reference Group hosted by the South African Cities Network (SACN)‚ with the su...
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