In South Africa there has been growing national concern
about the high levels of interpersonal violence especially
among young people. Several incidents of school homicides
in particular made newspaper headlines during 2006 and a
national public hearing on “School Based Violence” was also
convened by the Human Rights Commission to address the
problem. However, incidents of school-associated violent
deaths represent only a small proportion of adolescent
homicides. The National Injury Mortality Surveillance
System, which captures approximately 40% of the annual
nonnatural deaths in South Africa, reveal that the majority
(52%) of nonnatural deaths among youth between the age
of 15 and 24 years are due to violence. Unpublished NIMSS
data for 2004 shows that of the 8575 violent deaths where
age was recorded, young people between the ages of 15
to 24 years accounted for more than a quarter (26.3%) of
homicides.Institute for Social and Health Science
