A nation traumatised by years of violent crime
LETHAL forms of aggression continue to take their toll on South Africans, who are emotionally and mentally scarred by violent crime.
More than 1.75 million people have sought medical care in the past 20 years for injuries caused by violence, making this one of the four biggest health burdens along with HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and chronic and mental illness.
This is what a research team from the University of South Africa and the Medical Research Council found in a review of the impact of violence.
Professor Ashley van Niekerk, a manager with the MRCUnisa violence, injury and peace research unit, said the ongoing study was being compiled through published research from various sources.
‘‘Twenty years is an important milestone. It’s important for us to reflect the progress that we’ve made as a society. The homicide rate might have come down, but there are other lethal forms of aggression. That is very much still the story of our society.”
The study found that 75% of South Africans would have at least one violent traumatic experience in their lifetime and that:
Femicide was six times the global average;
Male homicide was eight times the worldwide average; and
Violence
against
young
There’s grief and anger . . . towards the country, police and crime
men in Cape Town’s townships was more than double the national average.
Van Niekerk said the annual murder rate had decreased, according to the police’s crime statistics, but it was important to note that these figures were plagued by concerns about under-reporting.
Psychiatrist Dr Eugene Allers said he believed that up to 25% of South Africans could suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Allers said that, based on a 2013 stress and trauma study, up to six million South Africans may suffer from the disorder as a result of direct or indirect exposure to crime and car accidents.
In addition, said Allers, a study on children in the Cape Flats showed that more than 50% of them had witnessed incidents of violence and crime — and 22% of them might meet the criteria for the disorder.
‘‘We have one of the highest incidences of psychiatric disorders in the world,” said Allers.
Children in disadvantaged communities were at a higher risk of being untreated for the disorder because of a lack of facilities and increased crime.
For people on the front line of counselling, trauma is like a ‘‘wound to the soul”. Isabella Holden, director of Lifeline Johannesburg, said:‘‘The message we need to get out there is that people can reach out and talk to someone. They don’t have to struggle internally and on their own to get through.”
Henning Jacobs, head of ER24’s trauma support unit based in Sandton, Johannesburg, has spent seven years counselling victims of crime.
In cases of hijacking, he said, ‘‘the first week is the worst. People don’t sleep, they can’t function at work. They’re scared to drive.
“If there’s death, then it’s much worse. There’s grief and anger — anger towards the country, police and crime,” he said.