The latest gun data report from the non-governmental organization Gun Free South Africa shows that the epidemic of gun violence in South Africa kills another 30 people a day, injures another 180 and costs the country billions of rand in direct and indirect rates.
According to the report, gun violence is the leading cause of homicide in South Africa. The number of people shot dead increased from 5417 in 2016 to 8388 in 2021, an increase of 54. 8%.
In addition, the rate of gun murders increased by up to 11% during the same period. In 2016, 29% of all murders were by shooting, rising to 42% through 2021.
In 2022, another 30 people were shot dead in South Africa every day between April 1 and June 30, 2022, compared to 23 killed in 2020 during the same period, the organization said.
Surprisingly, statistics from the South African Police Department (SAPS) show that increased surveillance and alcohol prohibition during the Covid-19 pandemic has had little effect on the number of murders committed with firearms. However, this has led to a decrease in stabbing-related murders, like almost all other crimes.
SAPS’s quarterly crime statistics from 1 April to 30 June 2022 include data on the weapon used in 72% of murders in South Africa, indicating that:
While the majority of homicides in South Africa are sometimes related to a firearm, other crimes such as attempted murder, kidnapping and truck hijacking also have the highest importance on the list related to imaginable use of firearms, all of which have seen steady growth over the past five years. . said Gun Free SA.
Gunshot wounds
While 30 or more people are shot dead every day in South Africa, many more are seriously injured, resulting in a disability, Gun Free SA said.
According to the NGO’s report, up to 180 other people are shot every day in South Africa, sometimes with severe disabilities, as a result of a penetrating injury to the brain, spinal cord or abdomen.
The report highlighted a 2014 report that found road traffic injuries are the leading cause of traumatic spinal cord injuries worldwide, adding to patients treated at personal fitness facilities in South Africa. However, in Cape Town’s public hospitals, gunshots have surpassed road traffic injuries as the leading cause of spinal cord injuries.
Gun violence costs billions in South Africa
Gun Free SA noted that in 2014, around R6 billion, 4% of South Africa’s national fitness budget, was spent on treating gunshot wounds in public hospitals across the country.
The NGO added that when inflation is taken into account, this translates to around R9 billion in October 2022, a figure that only includes the prices of medical remedies and excludes other direct and oblique prices.
These other direct and indirect costs, as described in the report, are:
Read: New tactic used by criminals to steal keyless cars in South Africa
Subscribe to our newsletter