Cape Town has only made it to number 11 on a list of the 50 most violent cities in the world as compiled by the Mexican Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice. This is after dropping to 15th on the list in 2017.
Three south African cities made it onto the list: Cape Town ranking at 11, Nelson Mandela Bay (that’s Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Despatch for those who do not know – ED.) at number 45 and Durban at number 47.
The report lists the 50 most violent cities by the number of murders per 100,000 people, only considering cities with populations exceeding 300,000, where murder statistics are made available.
BusinessTech reports that just as with previous years, the majority of the world’s most violent cities are in the Americas, particularly Mexico and South America.
“South Africa has the dubious honour of being the only non-American country listed,” says BusinessTech.co.za.
In the 2018 list, Cape Town ranked 11th with a murder rate of 66.4 per 100,000 people – much more competitive than the 62.3 per 100,000 people in 2017. In 2018, Cape Town had a population of 4,322,031 people and 2,868 homicides.
Nelson Mandela Bay saw its murder rate improve from 37.5 per 100,000 in 2017, to 39.2 per 100,000 in 2018, making it again the second most violent city in the country. It ranks 45th, globally.
In 2018, Nelson Mandela Bay had a population of 1,220,616 people and 478 homicides.
Durban’s murder rate also increased marginally, from 38.1 per 100,000 in 2017, to 38.5 per 100,000 in 2018 – however, its position on the overall list dropped, from 44th in 2017, to 47th in 2018.
In 2018, Durban had a population of 4,055,969 population and 1,562 homicides.
Despite its reputation for high levels of crime, Johannesburg’s murder rate was not high enough to be ranked among the top 50. Joburg was last featured in the ranking in 2015, when it was ranked 47th.
