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South Africa: Murder Rate Down, Says City
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Cape Argus (Cape Town)
24 August 2007
Posted to the web 24 August 2007
Cape Town
The murder rate in Cape Town has dropped substantially from a high four years ago and has stabilised in recent years - but the city is still the murder capital of South Africa, says a study by the City of Cape Town.
The study has revealed that at the end of 2006 the murder rate was 57.3 per 100 000 of the population, down from 84.4 per 100 000 people in the 2002/03 period.
The murder rate per 100 000 of the population for the past three years was 59 in the period 2003/04; 54.6 in 2004/05; and 57.3 in 2005/06.
The study was sourced from statistics recently released by the SAPS and the city's own Department of Strategic Development Information.
"At this point, it is not certain what the cause of this change is," said the city's Sustainability Report 2006.
"Sudden changes in crime statistics can often be blamed on changes in reporting rates.
"However, murder is internationally considered to be one of the most accurate and reliable crime statistics because the presence of a body indicates that a crime has been committed, independent of the public's willingness to report a crime.
"Continued hard work and vigilance by the police services will contribute to a further lowering of this crime rate, although their achievement must be recognised," it added.
Cape Town is responsible for 10% of the country's murder rate, despite the fact that the city is home to 7% of South Africa's population.
The statistics also point to a sharp increase in the rate of rape and indecent assault.
"The rate of rape in Cape Town is unacceptably high, with over 5 700 cases of rape and indecent assault reported in 2006," the report said.
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"The rate has remained shockingly high since 1994 and has shown slight increases both in Cape Town and nationally," it added.
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