Five SA cities among top 20 most crime-ridden in world
FIVE cities in South Africa have been listed among the top 20 crime-ridden places in the world, according to the Crime Index by City 2024.
Earlier this year, Police Minister Bheki Cele released alarming crime statistics for the third quarter of the financial year 2023/24, showing that communities across South Africa are under siege from violent criminals in major cities.
Cele announced that there were 8000 murders in those three months alone.
Now, the Crime Index by City 2024 report has revealed that South Africa’s capital city, Pretoria, is the second most dangerous city in the world. Durban and Johannesburg follow at number three and four respectively.
Gqeberha is at number eight, with Cape Town ranking at number 18, meaning South Africa has the highest number of most dangerous cities in the world’s top 20.
Speaking to the Cape Argus sister title The Star yesterday, criminologist, Professor Kholofelo Rakubu, said no single factor could explain the high levels of violence or violent crime in South Africa.
“Violent crime in South Africa is the product of a variety of factors. Firearm-related crimes have long been a feature of South African society.
“Easy availability of firearms played a central role in the rapid growth of violent crime in the country,” Rakubu said.
South Africa had a culture of violence, she said, and violence had become a normalised and accepted form of communication in South African society, being seen as a legitimate means to resolve disputes and highlight issues.
“Violence in South Africa is deeply embedded within the social fabric of the country. It has become normalised and widely accepted as a means of dealing with frustration and conflict.”
“Three socio-economic factors can initially be identified as playing an important role in the understanding of the incidence of crime,” she said
These were unemployment, income levels, and the prevalent level of income inequality, she said.
“High levels of unemployment mean that the probability of gaining a legal income would be low, while high levels of illegal income simultaneously increase the payoff from criminal activity, as well as increasing the opportunity cost of criminal activity.”
Rakubu did not rule out corruption as one of the factors involved in violent crime in the country.
“Corruption and increasingly sophisticated organised crime networks continue to aggravate South Africa’s efforts to combat illicit trade.
“The number of police is not sufficient to respond to crime.
“Major cities in South Africa are overpopulated and congested, hence the high crime levels in those cities.”
She said the government was to blame for the high crime rate in the country’s major cities.
“Although there are policies in place to prevent crime, there are not enough resources in place to ensure efficient implementation of the policies.
“Crime is due to socio-economic conditions However, the developed policies do not address socio-economic conditions, perpetuating levels of crime.
“We are anticipating the implementation of a whole-of-society and whole-of-government approach through the 2022 integrated crime and violence prevention strategy,” she said.