In the shadow of Table Mountain, fringed by a mile-long sandy beach, the district of Hout Bay reflects in miniature the systemic inequality of modern South Africa. The Cape Town district is a microcosm for a country facing a growing crime epidemic, which has now secured an unwanted position atop a newly released World Bank table of the most unequal countries on Earth. While divisions are still traced along lines of race and privilege, few can escape crime in Hout Bay, whether their home is a villa worth millions or a hillside shack. A police station sits at the entrance to the Imizamo Yethu township but officers do not regularly patrol the community ALAMYAcross the country, violent crime has risen for the fifth consecutive year, according to the government’s latest statistics, while the murder rate has increased by 22 per cent since 2012.

Source: The Times April 18, 2018 16:03 UTC