SA’s crime crisis is akin to a low-intensity civil war – IRR
12 September 2019
Crime statistics released today show that South Africa is continuing to lose the battle against rising criminality.
The number of murders has increased to over 21 000, a level last seen in the early 2000s. On a per capita basis, this rivals numbers seen in places such as war-torn Syria. It is no exaggeration to say that, on the basis of the number of people killed each year, South Africa is facing a crisis that is akin to a low-intensity civil war.
Sexual offences, which showed a decline over the past decade, are also increasing. According to police statistics, for every person murdered in South Africa, two are raped, with over 40 000 rapes being reported annually. The real number is quite possibly substantially higher, as we know that many rapes go unreported.
These figures mean that, since the end of apartheid, about 500 000 South Africans have been murdered and about one million people have been raped. It is clear that South Africa is losing the war on crime, and that the old ways of doing things are not working.