Chapter 6

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF VICTIMS

Everyone is vulnerable to crime, but certain people appear to be more at risk than others. The docket analysis provides some indication of the profile of people who are relatively more vulnerable to firearm-related crime. The profile of victims in terms of crime types is useful for the development of safety and crime prevention strategies. The following section provides an overview of the victims involved in the various crimes. It considers the main demographic information on victims: gender, race, age, vocation and employment. Victim information is usually more comprehensive than information available in dockets on offenders. This relates to the fact that the victim usually lays the complaint, consequently providing more substantial information. The offender, on the other hand, is often unknown and, hence, only partial information can be obtained.

Gender

There were more male than female victims. Comparatively speaking, the proportion of female victims was greater in those crimes with which violence against women is usually associated. These included 42.1% of assault victims, 27.6% of victims in incidences where a firearm was discharged in a built-up place and 25% of victims of the crime of possession or using a firearm while under the influence of alcohol.

Race

What is interesting is that particular race groups suffer a disproportionately greater level of victimisation in certain crimes than others. For example, an extremely high number of murders (90.3%) and attempted murders (76.5%) occur among the coloured sample. This could be as a result of the gang violence in the Mitchell’s Plain area.

Age

The age of victims varied across firearm-related incidents. In property crimes (armed robbery, common robbery and hijacking), ages were marginally higher than in the case of murders and attempted murders. This is attributed both to the high level of property ownership and the value of property among victims over the age of 30 years.

Table 26: Gender profile of victims (percentage)
Gender	Armed robbery	Common robbery	Hi- jacking	Murder	Attempted murder	Theft of firearm	Point-ing a firearm	Dis- charging a firearm in built-up place	Pos-session of illegal firearm	Assault	Negligent loss of firearm	Pos-session /use of firearm under influence of alcohol
Male	77.3	92.1	89.9	87.5	78.4	76.7	82.8	72.4	100	57.9	100	75
Female	22.7	7.9	10.1	12.5	21.6	23.3	17.2	27.6	0	42.1	0	25
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Victims (n)	264	101	89	72	102	60	99	29	5	19	13	4

Table 27: Race profile of victims (percentage)
Race	Armed robbery	Com-mon rob-bery	Hi-jacking	Murder	Attempt-ed murder	Theft of firearm	Point-ing a firearm	Dis-charging a firearm in built-up place	Pos-session of illegal firearm	Assault	Neg-ligent loss of firearm	Pos-session/ use of firearm under influence of alcohol
African	36.5	47.5	44.3	5.6	13.7	24.6	27.6	14.8	20	42.1	0	0
Asian	28.9	9.9	14.8	1.4	5.9	7	17.3	14.8	0	5.3	0	0
Coloured	18.3	13.9	30.7	90.3	76.5	14	37.8	55.6	20	47.4	0	100
White	16.3	28.7	10.2	2.8	3.9	54.4	17.3	14.8	60	5.3	100	0
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Victims (n)	263	101	88	72	102	57	98	27	5	19	13	4

Table 28: Age profile of victims (percentage)
Age	Armed robbery	Com-mon robbery	Hi-jacking	Murder	Attempted murder	Theft of firearm	Point-ing a firearm	Dis-charging a firearm in built-up place	Pos-session of illegal firearm	Assault	Negligent loss of firearm	Pos-session /use of firearm under influence of alcohol
>16 years	0.8	2.1	1.2	3	4.5	1.8	2.1	3.7	0	11.8	0	0
16-20 years	5	5.3	8.5	21.2	22.5	7.3	14.4	3.7	25	17.6	0	0
21-30 years	37.8	38.3	42.7	43.9	29.2	25.5	47.4	55.6	25	41.2	0	50
31-40 years	28.6	25.5	22	18.2	28.1	40	24.7	18.5	0	23.5	53.8	25
41-50 years	18.5	13.8	13.4	9.1	14.6	16.4	7.2	14.8	0	5.9	0	25
51-60 years	9.3	6.4	11.2	4.5	1.1	9.1	4.1	3.7	50	0	46.2	0
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Victims (n)	238	94	82	66	89	55	57	27	4	17	13	4

Vocational profile

The vocation of victims provides insight about activities that take up most of their time. Clearly, this would affect the type of crime that the victim is most at risk of experiencing. For example, a housewife has a lesser geographic mobility than a person employed in the formal sector. Yet, a housewife may be more fixed and predictable in terms of movement patterns, which make her a softer target for certain types of crimes. It was found that housewives comprised 19.2% of the victims or complainants in incidents involving the discharge of a firearm in a built-up place and 10.2% of attempted murder victims.

Employment status

As informed by the vocation of the victim, the following table provides a summary of the difference in employment status of victims. The vast majority of victims were employed, with the exception of victims of murder and attempted murder.

Occupation

When considering the type of profession of victims, it is interesting to note the range of different occupations victims were engaged in at the time of the incident. In terms of armed robbery, a large proportion of victims of theft were victimised while involved in their occupations, especially those involving the immediate exchange of goods for cash (such as 37.5% of shop assistants or cashiers). It is also interesting to note the high level of risk that private security guards are exposed to: they are involved in 10.6% of armed robberies; 20.3% of common robberies; and 16.3% of incidences involving the pointing of a firearm. Taxi drivers were also significantly victimised, being involved in 6.8% of armed robberies and 22.4% of hijackings.

Table 30: Employment status of victims (percentage)
Status	Armed robbery	Com-mon robbery	Hi-jacking	Murder	Attempt-ed murder	Theft of firearm	Pointing a firearm	Dis-charging a firearm in built-up place	Pos-session of illegal firearm	Assault	Neg-ligent loss of firearm	Pos-session /use of firearm under influence of alcohol
Not looking for employment (such asscholars, students, retired)	4.3	10.8	8.5	19.3	26.1	6.8	16.7	23.1	0	33.3	0	0
Unemployed	3	5.4	6.1	36.8	31.8	3.4	10.4	15.4	0	20	0	50
Employed	91.4	78.5	84.1	42.1	38.6	84.7	71.9	61.5	100	46.7	100	50
Other	3	5.4	1.2	1.8	3.4	5.1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Victims (n)	233	93	82	57	88	59	96	26	5	15	13	4

Table 31: Occupational profile of victims (percentage)
Occupation	Armed robbery	Com-mon robbery	Hi-jacking	Murder	Attempt-ed murder	Theft of firearm	Point-ing a firearm	Dis-charging a firearm in built-up place	Pos-session of illegal firearm	Assault	Neg-ligent loss of firearm	Pos-session/ use of firearm under influence of alcohol
Academic, researcher, teacher	0	0	1.7	8.3	4	2.2	0	0	0	12.5	0	33.3
Accountant	1.9	1.7	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Advocate, prosecutor	0	0	1.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	30	0
Architect	0	1.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bank teller	1.9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bar/club owner	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Builder, contractor, foreman	2.5	5.1	0	0	4	8.9	0	0	0	12.5	0	0
bus driver, conductor	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.1	0	0	0	0	0
Business person	1.3	0	1.7	8.3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chef	0.6	1.7	0	0	0	2.2	0	8.3	0	12.5	0	0
Civil servant	1.3	0	0	0	0	2.2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cleaner, domestic worker	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Clerk	6.3	3.4	1.7	0	8	6.7	0	16.7	0	0	0	0
Debit collector	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Farm manager	0.6	0	0	0	0	6.7	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hairdresser, beautician	0	1.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hawker, vendor	0	0	0	8.3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Imports /exports	1.3	1.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Labourer	0	0	0	16.7	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Manager, assistant, supervisor	0	5.1	6.9	0	4	2.2	4.1	0	25	0	0	33.3
Medical profession	2.5	0	0	0	0	2.2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Messenger, office driver	10.0	3.4	17.2	0	4.0	2.2	6.1	0	0	012.5	0	0
Peace officer	0	0	1.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Petrol attendant station owner	0	0	1.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Prison warder	0	0	1.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Private security guard	10.6	20.3	0	0	20.0	2.2	16.3	16.7	0	12.5	40.0	0
Religious person	0	0	1.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Reporter	0	0	0	0	0	2.2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sailor	0	0	0	0	4.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sales rep – mobile	5.3	13.6	6.9	16.7	8.0	4.4	4.1	0	0	0	0	0
SANDF	0.6	11.9	1.7	8.3	4.0	4.4	4.1	16.7	0	0	30.0	0
SAPS	3.1	6.8	12.1	0	4.0	15.6	10.2	25.0	78.0	12.5	0	0
Secretary	0	3.4	0	8.3	0	6.7	2.0	0	0	0	0	0
Sex worker	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.5	0	0
Shop assistant, cashier	37.5	8.5	12.1	0	8.0	6.7	10.2	0	0	12.5	0	0
Smuggler, drug dealer	0	0	0	8.3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Snake park owner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8.3	0	0	0	0
Taxi driver/ owner	6.9	1.7	22.4	8.3	16.0	8.9	18.4	0	0	0	0	0
Technician, mechanic	3.1	3.4	5.2	0	4.0	4.4	4.1	0	0	0	0	33.3
Trade, craft person	0	5.1	0	8.3	0	6.7	2.0	8.3	0	0	0	0
Travel agent	0	0	0	0	0	2.2	6.1	0	0	0	0	0
Truck driver	0.6	0	1.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Waiter /waitress	2.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Victims (n)	160	59	58	12	25	45	49	12	4	8	10	3