Statistics underline South African violence

The first detailed survey of violence in post-apartheid South Africa suggests that about a quarter of all deaths in the country are now due to non-natural causes.

Revealing the statistics to reporters, the Health Minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, said that of the sixty-thousand violent and accidental deaths in 1999, nearly half were murders.

She said firearms accounted for more deaths than accidents, and alcohol was a frequent factor; suicides also accounted for about ten per cent of the fatalities.

Mrs Tshabalala-Msimang said the South African government had to address the issue, and not concentrate just on one social condition like HIV-AIDS, however important it was.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service