Health Science Reviews

By Zengeziwe Shabangu

South Africa is considered as one of the countries with the highest murder rates for men globally. When people hear the word “homicide”, they usually htink it is caused only by robbery, gang violence or some street crimes. Other research studies have shown another perspective that most men are killed by someone they know. it can be someone within their homes, their friends and some people in their social lives.

A study published in BMJ Global Health looked at this issue. The researchers were concerned about who was killing South African men and the reasons behind this act. They conducted a retrospective study, using data from 1647 adult male homicide cases from 2017, which may sometimes not reveal recent trends in violence. These cases were taken from different provinces in South Africa, making it easier to understand what was happening across the country. The data was extracted from autopsy reports, forensic records, and police dockets. However, only 1373 cases had full perpetrator data out of 1647 cases, this limitation is very significant and must be acknowledged. Even with this limitation, the available dataset was able to reveal strong patterns because it was large enough. They found that more than half of South African men were killed by someone they knew.

Alcohol also played a major role in homicide, researchers found that it accounted for 50% of acquaintance homicides, 41% of family-related homicides and illegal drug, which had 9%. The killing of men usually happened in urban informal settlements, in social gatherings, especially in bars, shebeens and homes. This occurs mostly during the weekends when many people gather or during holidays such as in December. Weapons which are mostly used include sharp objects such as knives, followed by guns. This study showed that men between the ages of 18 and 29 are at a high risk of being killed by friends and strangers, whereas men between 30 and 44 are mostly killed by a family member. Unemployed men are more likely to be either victims or perpetrators of murder. Intimate partners are also involved in homicides of males; every 38 hours, a male is killed by a female partner.

Despite the limitations of the study, there are still ways which can be used to prevent or reduce murder in South Africa. These include reducing alcohol abuse, educating people on ways to solve their problems in a peaceful manner, ensuring that guns which are accessible are legal and providing mental health support, mostly to males. This research warns against never trusting anyone because someday those people might betray you.

REFERENCE:
Matzopoulos, R., Marineau, L., Mhlongo, S., Ketelo, A., Prinsloo, M., Dekel, B., Martin,
L.J., Jewkes, R., Lombard, C. and Abrahams, N., (2024). Who is killing South African
men? A retrospective descriptive study of forensic and police investigations into male
homicide. BMJ Global Health, 9(4).