Statistics from mortuaries in Gauteng show that violent deaths in the province are increasing, according to Jack Bloom, the DA’s member of the provincial legislature, who is also the party’s shadow MEC for Health.
In a statement, Bloom said the statistics from the province’s 10 state mortuaries showed that violent deaths from gunshots, stab wounds and assault rose from 3 846 in 2014/15 to 4 138 in 2015/16. The deaths, he said, accounted for 32 per cent of all unnatural deaths from bodies found at the mortuaries.
Of them:
- 1 854 deaths were from shootings, up from 1 608 in 2014/15
- 1 338 deaths were from stabbings, up from 1 257 in 2014/15
- 946 deaths were from assaults, down from 981
- Traffic accidents accounted for 27 per cent of the deaths and increased to 3 444 from 3 088 the previous year
- Hanging caused 874 or seven per cent of all deaths in 2015/16.
This in addition to:
- 702 deaths from burns
- 596 from stillbirths
- 679 from poisoning
- 249 from drowning
- 199 from train accidents
- 144 from electrocution
- 75 from strangulation
- 32 from suffocation
- 17 caused by lightning.
Bloom said the evidence was disturbing and showed, among others, a failure in policing and the road safety campaigns.
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