A policy brief on South Africa's rising murder rate notes that experts believe the entrenchment and growth of organised crime 'has played a major role in the increasing number of murders'.

In the week of the release of an Institute for Security Studies (ISS) policy brief on murder trends in the country, a male student was filmed viciously stabbing his wife outside a residence in Belhar, Cape Town.

The attack was frenzied and the woman is currently fighting for her life in hospital.

In his introduction to the ISS policy brief titled, "Murder trends in South Africa's deadliest provinces", author David Bruce notes: "Among the many distressing problems facing South Africa at the moment is the high level of violent crime."

Murder, the deliberate and unlawful taking of another person's life, he said, is a serious manifestation of this "scourge".

Indeed, the clip which went viral on social media is such a manifestation, with many outraged by the invasion of privacy and the traumatising nature of the visuals.

Murder on the rise

Bruce, an independent researcher, notes that in South Africa, both the number of murders and murder rates (the number per 100,000 of the population) have escalated steadily.

"This takes a heavy toll on society in lives lost and the impact on families, friends and communities. It also has a wide range of other serious social and economic costs,"...