No improvement in South Africa murder rate, official figures show

Sep 22, 2009, 12:18 GMT

Johannesburg - South Africa has made little progress in its war against violent crime, official statistics showed Tuesday, as the country prepares to host the football World Cup in nine months time.

New figures showed 50 people are still murdered each day in the country and another 50 the victims of an attempted murder.

Between April 2008 and March 2009, 18,148 people were murdered, or about 49.7 people every day, down only fractionally from 18,487 the previous year, the South African Police Service statistics showed.

A further 18,298 people suffered an attempt on their life, also also marginally down on 2007/20008, while the number of sexual offences, carjackings and robberies with aggravating circumstances had all increased over the past 12 months.

The statistics show that efforts by government to improve security in the run-up to the World Cup, including recruiting thousands more police officers, have yet to yield siginificant results.

South Africa, however, points to its strong record in hosting international events and sporting tournaments as proof that it can secure the tournament.

Of significance is the fact that this year's statistics, which were delayed for three months, did not, unlike previous years, give a breakdown for rape.

South Africa's rape rates are believed to be among the highest - if not the highest - in the world. Last year's statistics showed around 132 cases of rape were reported each day, with the real figure believed to be much higher because most cases go unreported.

The police this year only gave an aggregated figure for sexual offences, which totalled 71,500 in total, a 12 per cent increase on the 2007/2008 figure.

The number of carjackings, where robbers surround drivers and hijack their cars at gunpoint, had increased to 14,915 from 14, 201 a year ago.