[imagesource: Reuters / Hisham]

COVID-19 lockdowns caused a downturn in some crime stats during the heat of the pandemic, but the numbers are starting to look like their ugly old selves once again.

With restricted mobility, curfews, and banned or limited buying of alcohol during the various lockdown stages, criminals weren’t able to hustle as hard, but with these restrictions lifted, serious violent crime is back in business.

The South African Cities Network (SACN) acknowledges in its State of South African Cities report how the numbers from this period were an anomaly, but, despite this, “South African cities continue to face crime and violence challenges that require the attention and intervention of all of society”.

The report takes a look at the socio-economic and development challenges faced by the country’s largest metros – Cape Town, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Ethekwini, Tshwane, Manguang, Msunduzi, Nelson Mandela Bay, and Buffalo City – with the 2022 release covering the 2020/21 financial year.

A heavy focus was placed on stats reflecting those of safety and security, reported BusinessTech:

According to the SACN, murder numbers and murder rates are acknowledged locally and internationally as a suitable measure for levels of violence in a city. However, because crimes are reported at stations – and there may be one station serving several areas, one area with several stations – it is difficult to derive true numbers from reported stats.

Using raw numbers – the total murders reported at these stations – is also problematic, as they do not account for population sizes.

Cape Town’s population is around four times higher than Nelson Mandela Bay, which makes the murder rate 67 per 100 000 people, compared to Nelson Mandela Bay, where the murder rate is 71 per 100 000.

Using various methodologies, SACN has ranked the five most violent cities in the country:

Image: BusinessTech

Nationally, there is an average of 34 murders per 100 000 people.

Socioeconomic deterioration, growing inequality, food insecurity, political corruption, and consequently weaker police and criminal-justice performance, as well as an influx of firearms into high-risk areas, are all factors exacerbating criminal activity, particularly murders, in South Africa, says SACN.

The report shows that both Nelson Mandela Bay and Cape Town have some of the country’s worst poverty stats, per News24:

While people are living longer in the City of Cape Town [the city has the highest life expectancy, according to the report], the rate of poverty is one of the highest in the country – with 45.9% of people living on less than R1 227 per month in 2019.

The report further shows that in 2020, Cape Town had the lowest unemployment rate (22,5%), Nelson Mandela Bay municipality had the highest unemployment (35,7%), which was a 4,1% unemployment increase from 2016.

[sources:businesstech&news24]