A process has finally commenced within SAPS, which, it is hoped, will see places like Nyanga get at least an average share of policing -- rather than a lower share.

Maurice Smither's experience as related by him in Daily Maverick is but one example of what happens in slow traffic in high murder-rate areas of Cape Town. Many outsiders go into these areas knowing the risk; residents have little choice.

But recently, NGOs and even government services are withdrawing from places like Nyanga and Philippi, because it is simply too dangerous. Part of the problem is that police resources are irrationally lower in these areas. The good news is that change at last seems possible after a decade of advocacy and litigation.

Philippi has a murder rate of 272 per 100,000. That means one in every 370 people living there is killed violently every year. For comparison, the number of deaths in Ukraine due to war so far is about 160 per 100,000; the South African murder rate is about 45 per 100,000 at present.

But Philippi doesn't have a high (reported) crime rate. Yes, read that again. Leafy Claremont has more of SAPS' 17 "community-reported crimes" than does Philippi: around 3,000 per year (of which, zero to two murders), compared to Philippi's 2,000 (of which 60 to 90 murders). Claremont's population is about a third smaller....