Load shedding contributing to murder rate, research shows
Load shedding is a contributing factor to the rise in the number of reported murders in South Africa.
Criminal justice expert Jean Redpath says this is what her research shows.
Redpath, who is a senior researcher at the University of the Western Cape's Dullah Omar Institute, says there has been an increase in the number of murder cases reported over the past four years.
She says the period covers the Covid-19 lockdown and the continuous rolling blackouts being implemented by Eskom.
Redpath presented her findings on Tuesday during a webinar on the drivers of violent crime in South Africa.
"Unfortunately, a slow but steady increase with a slight dip around the main lockdown in the year of 2020, and then a quite concerning precipitous increase thereafter.
"In the South African context, murder is relatively common and relatively well reported."
The Institute of Security Studies had projected KwaZulu-Natal's murder rate to continue upward between April 2022 and March 2023, reaching 60 per 100 000 people.
