The Costs of Firearm Violence: A National Public Health Priority
Data available on firearm violence in South Africa identifies firearms as one of the leading non-natural causes of death in the country, with handguns considered to be the weapon of choice among criminals. By implementing more effective surveillance systems the socio-economic impact of firearm violence and crime can be reduced.
Lauren Tracey, Researcher, Transnational Threats and International Crime Division, ISS Pretoria
South Africa faces numerous challenges in preventing and
reducing the levels of violence and crime. The burden of mortality and
morbidity arising from violence and injury affects the lives of millions of
individuals annually and continues to undermine social harmony and socio-economic
development. This is, now more than ever, a national public health priority –
one that needs to be monitored and controlled so as to limit the number of injuries
and non-natural deaths in South Africa. However, inadequate data prevents
institutions from accurately identifying the trends of firearm-related crime
and its impact on society.
Considered one of the most common causes of mortality in
South Africa, firearm violence has over the years continued to plague not only
South Africa but also the entire continent. Data available in South Africa
identifies firearms as one of the leading non-natural causes of death in the
country, with handguns considered to be the weapon of choice among criminals.
Some of the ways in which criminals obtain firearms are
through theft or through the South African Police Service (SAPS) and private
individuals losing or misplacing weapons such as pistols, shotguns, rifles and
revolvers. These have seen few recoveries. Increased acquisition of firearms by
citizens for self-defence and illegal access to unlicensed firearms by
individuals have further exacerbated the problem of firearm crime and violence
in the country.
In measuring the socio-economic impact sustained by South
Africa as a result of violence and more particularly firearm-related violence,
it becomes clear that its magnitude can only be estimated. One way of doing
this is by dividing the costs into direct costs; which include legal services,
direct medical and incarceration costs and indirect costs such as productivity
losses, lost earnings and psychological costs (pain and suffering). In South
Africa, violence is the leading cause of death among the economically active age
group of 15–54-year-olds. High levels of injury and death in this group place
significant strain on the country’s economy, which results in loss of
productivity and human capital, especially that of skilled capital necessary
for economic growth.
Available data on the use of firearms in incidents of
crime and violence is no longer as disaggregated as it used to be in the 1990s,
and has not been made publically available by the SA Government since 2000.
Firearms crime and violence trends can therefore only be speculated at by means
of gathering data from media reports, aggregated SAPS violence and crime data,
and various data collection systems such as Statistics South Africa (Stats SA)
and the National Injury Mortality Surveillance System (NIMSS).
The effective
collection of cause-of-death data plays a key role in the management and
control of criminal and violent activities and is an essential component of
health information systems. It assists hospitals, government and various other
organisations in identifying the major causes of premature mortality, and it
highlights the different health needs within a given community. In South Africa, limited reliable data on the extent of
injury mortality and morbidity and its contribution to the country’s burden of
disease and social ills continues to impact negatively on the country. This
inability to capture data about injuries has negative consequences for the
allocation of resources within the health services in South African hospitals,
as it prevents them, other organisations and government from establishing
effective injury prevention and control programmes.
The need to continue
implementing effective injury and mortality surveillance systems such as the
NIMSS and the National Non-Fatal Injury Surveillance System (NANFISS) remains vital.
These surveillance systems assist greatly in obtaining reliable information on
the scale and distribution of firearm-related violence and crime. They reduce
the norm of focusing on crimes from a purely law enforcement and criminal
justice standpoint to one that acknowledges and identifies the risk factors
that are associated with these acts and allow them to occur. The availability
of firearms, alcohol, instances of racial discrimination, unemployment and lack
of education, violent upbringings and belief in male dominance are just some of
the factors that impact on an individual or community’s attitude to crime and violence.
The risk factors attached to a violent or criminal incident play a key role in
preventing it. They put the violent or criminal incident into context, allowing
communities, organisations and governments to identify ways of preventing it. The
data collected from these surveillance systems is certainly an effective way to
guide developmental efforts and programmes to assist the affected individuals
and communities and contribute to limiting the number of firearm-related
injuries and deaths sustained in South Africa.
