Cape Town, Durban amongst most violent cities

Despite Johannesburg’s reputation as the most dangerous city in the country, Cape Town, Nelson Mandela Bay and Durban are the only South African metropolitans that feature on the list of the 50 most violent cities on earth.

The list had been compiled earlier this year by Mexico’s Citizens’ Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice.

This ranking did not include deaths in war zones or cities with unavailable data.

Cape Town records an average of 50.94 homicides per 100 000 residents, according to the report.

Nelson Mandela Bay, which ranked 41st in the world with 35.76 homicides per 100 000 residents, was said to be the second most violent city in the country.

Durban ranked 48th overall with 32.42 homicides per 100 000 residents.

According to the report, Latin America was the most violent region on the planet; while the US was the only developed country with several cities on the list.

South Africa’s annual crime statistics released in September indicated that murder and robbery had increased in the past year.

Murder increased by 5%, attempted murder by 4.6%, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm by 1.5% and robbery with aggravated circumstances by 12.7%.

National police commissioner Riah Phiyega had said that the Eastern Cape was experiencing challenges in terms of the sexual assault of elderly people.

n the Western Cape, Mitchell’s Plain had the highest number of gang murders, followed by Bishop Lavis, Delft, Elsie’s River and Philippi, according to police.

Western Cape police commissioner Arno Lamoer said gang violence remained one of the biggest contributing factors to the high murder and attempted murder rates in the province.