This report is one of four reports making up the second phase of the CSVR's City Safety project. The baseline report gave an introduction to the location and function of city safety structures in South Africa's four major cities (Durban,…
This document presents a brief analysis of urban crime in South Africa. Three fundamental facts underpin this analysis. Firstly there are many different kinds of crime, requiring many different types of intervention. Secondly there is no single cause of crime, so it is necessary to understand the linked social, economic, political and psychological causes in order to prevent it. And lastly crime statistics are notoriously unreliable, so simple statistical analysis may hide as much as it reveals. To develop effective solutions, crime and its causes must be disaggregated.
This paper explores how urban design and maintenance may impact upon rape. The article also highlights how a geography of sexual violence can be mapped. It concludes that different urban environmental design and better use of resources for urban development and security can drastically reduce the threat of rape.
This paper draws on interviews held in October and November 1991 with 34 residents of Alexandra and 18 key informants associated with defence, policing, health and welfare, education and the administration of the township. The paper attempts to profile how violent crime has impacted upon the lives of people living in an area of Alexandra, Gauteng. The research locates the broader questions about the nature, extent, impact and control of violent crime within the narrow context of a small, community-based study focusing on the respondents' perceptions of, and reactions to violent crime.