Cape Town – South Africa’s most visited and beautiful city Cape Town is ranked as the most dangerous city in Africa, a report compiled by the Mexican Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice has revealed.
The Mother City was placed 11th on the list of most dangerous cities in the world. Other cities in the country on the list are Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) at 23, Durban in 35th place and Johannesburg ranking in at 48th. South Africa is the only African country that has cities included on the list of 50 most dangerous cities in the world.
The rankings are based on the number of murders per 100 000 people in the cities.
The top 10 is completely dominated by Mexican cities and for the fifth consecutive year, a Mexican city is the most violent in the world.
Currently, the most violent Mexican city in the world was Zamora, in the state of Michoacán.
The scenic Cape Town was once part of the top 10 most dangerous cities in the world in previous years. Cape Town has the highest number of murders in South Africa overall, with 2 911 murders recorded for the period, giving a murder rate of 62.22 people murdered per 100 000.
Cape Town faces a challenge of poverty, gangsterism, inequality and lack of economic development in communities outside of the CBD.
Most recently, a number of mass shootings have been happening in the city with the recent one taking place in Khayelitsha where six people were killed.
The City told the Weekend Argus last week that SAPS remains the primary law enforcement agency but because of their resource challenges over the past several years, the City has had to increase its investment in its own safety resources, primarily through the LEAP programme (Law Enforcement Advancement Programme).
“We can see the value these resources are having based on the improvements seen in the recent crime statistics. Visible policing is critical and SAPS need to improve their presence on the ground and be given more resources by the national government. The City acts in support of SAPS and while increased resourcing remains a priority for this administration, it is imperative that the SAPS too invest in more resources to assist violence-wracked communities.”
City councillor and Good Party member Suzette Little said it is misleading for the DA-led city to continue claiming that it is making great strides in its crime-fighting efforts when in reality the City sits on the list in the company of some of the most prolific cartel-ridden countries in the world.
“This despite the City of Cape Town pumping billions of ratepayers’ rand into public safety and even going as far as establishing its own rogue intelligence agency, the SSIU.”
“The increased spending on safety coupled with the failure to decrease crime should raise questions about the real motives of the law enforcement agencies within the City’s purview.”
“But for as long as the DA pretends to have crime under control, their cities will remain on this list. It’s time for the DA to own up to their failure to fight crime where it governs and start co-operating with other government agencies – and not usurping them –in pursuit of our people’s safety.”
Weekend Argus