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Cape Town first and Durban second in violent deaths, Witness, 22 March 2005

Durban second in violent deaths - Shirley Jone You're more likely to die violently in Durban than in Johannesburg. This was just one of the findings on how South Africans kill and are killed released at a seminar in Durban on Monday.

Violence was the leading cause of male injury-deaths at 57,9% in Durban, while most women were killed in traffic accidents (24,8%).

In Johannesburg, 50,3% of male deaths were violent, while the chief cause of female deaths was also transport at 27,1%.

In Durban 35,3% of women died violently, while 33,1% of Johannesburg women succumbed to violence.

But Cape Town is the city with the most violent deaths - 58,6% of male deaths were violence-related and the chief cause of death for women was also violence at 37,5%.

In Durban, 37,1% of males and 42,7% of women who died violently were in informal settlements, while 20,5% were killed in their homes.

"Countrywide, more fatal injuries were attributed to violence than any other injury category, except in Pretoria where road traffic fatalities were more common," said Unisa's Professor Mahomed Seedat, one of the authors of the report.

This Fifth Annual Report of the National Injury Mortality Surveillance System (NIMSS), which focuses on deaths in South Africa's major cities of Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Pretoria, is based on pathology reports from 36 mortuaries and is produced jointly by Unisa and the Medical Research Council.

The study of nearly 25 000 fatal Guns cause most big city deaths injuries in 2003 revealed that deaths from violence accounted for almost half of all injury deaths in South Africa in 2003.

Nationally, firearms remained the single largest cause of death. Of firearm fatalities, 87% were murders and 12% were suicide. In the sample, there were nearly as many firearm deaths as road traffic injuries (6 167 versus 6 324).

In Durban alone, a chilling breakdown revealed that 43,5% of children under 14 who were taken to mortuaries last year were shot dead.

Guns also killed 57,8% of the youths between 15 and 24, 58,8% of those between 25 and 34, 59,9% of 35- to 44-year-olds and 56,5% of those between 45 and 54.

However, the highest figure of all was 60,9% of the deaths of 55- to 64 year-olds. This figure dropped to 40% for deaths over 65.

Nationally, transport injuries accounted for 30% of deaths. Suicides and other unintentional injuries (burns, falls, drowning, etc) each accounted for 11% of injury deaths.

The NIMSS data highlighted different priorities for each city. Firearm suicides are a problem for Pretoria while in Durban more people hang themselves.

"The report also identifies specific priorities within age categories. Among children younger than 15 years old, pedestrian deaths were the single largest cause of injury death in all the cities, but in the one to four year age category drowning was the leading cause in Johannesburg and Pretoria," said Richard Matzopoulos, editor of the report.

He added that, in all four cities, males between the ages of 15 and 55 were most at risk of death from a variety of injuries (especially violence and traffic) and in many cases these deaths occurred at night when the deceased was drunk.

However, there is some indication that, in many other areas, fatal injury rates are declining. For the three years that full coverage has been maintained in Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria/Tshwane, indications are that deaths due to violence and transport have peaked and that only suicide is increasing.

Publish Date: 22 March 2005

Witness