Nearly 20% of murders in Western Cape related to gang activity

Nearly 20% of all the murders recorded in Western Cape were as a result of gang activity.

Head of crime statistics for SAPS Norman Sekhukhune said that 19.3% of the province's 3‚311 murders were linked to gang activity.

An analysis of the top ten so-called "gang stations" revealed that 79.1% of all murders reported at Steenberg were linked to gang activity‚ as were 78.5% of murders at Elsies River and 72.1% at Ravensmead.

In Gauteng‚ illegal mining accounted for 0.7% of all murders‚ while in KwaZulu-Natal‚ 1.9% of all murders could be linked to taxi violence.

Eighty-two deaths in Gauteng could also be linked to taxi violence.

Hostel violence accounted for 0.6% of all murders in KwaZulu-Natal.

Alcohol and drugs also played a role in murders‚ with the either the victim‚ the perpetrator or both having consumed alcohol in 34.4% of murder cases in Western Cape. Drug use was involved in about 3.3% of murders in the province.

In KwaZulu-Natal‚ alcohol use was reported in 18.5% of murders. 41 murders were reported in the province on Christmas Day 2016‚ and 47 on New Year's Day – both usually associated with high alcohol use.