Almost 500 000 South Africans have been murdered since 1994, according to a survey released by the South African Institute of Race Relations.
“South Africans live with horrific levels of violent crime. While the murder rate has fallen since 1994, at 31,9 per 100 000 people, it remains one of the highest in the world,” said Kerwin Lebone, Institute of Race Relations (IRR) crime analyst.
According to Lebone, SA’s murder rate is:
• almost 29 times higher than that of Australia, which is at 1,1 per 100 000 people
• almost 30 times higher than that of the United Kingdom, and 45 times higher than that of Germany, which are at 1,0 and 0,7 per 100 000 people respectively
• almost nine times higher than that of the United States, which is at 3,8 per 100 000 people
Lebone continued, saying South Africa’s murder crisis is so serious that some South Africans are more likely to murdered than the residents of many terror-affected countries.
The IRR survey indicates further that murder affects the most vulnerable people in SA’s society, and shows that 884 children were murdered in 2015/ 2016. Over the past decade, almost 10 000 children have been murdered.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at randfonteinherald@caxton.co.za (please remember to include your contact details in the email) or phone us on 011 693 3671.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to let your voice be heard!
