SA 'among the most aggressive'

South Africans are among the "most aggressive people in the world", according to a specialist who helps "thousands" manage their anger.

Shelton Kartun, director of the Anger and Stress Management Centre in Cape Town, said the notion of "taking the law into your own hands" had become "entrenched" in the psyche of South Africans because of poor policing in the past 10 to 15 years.

He said anger was driven primarily by one of two motivations: a desire for revenge or a desire to change a situation a person is unhappy with.

When stress built to a high level, a person could "snap", leading to a "blind rage where there is almost zero thinking going on and they have little control over what they do or say", he said.

High levels of crime, aggressive driving and unemployment were factors contributing to people having "short fuses", Kartun said.