Edit: I mean what is the reason that it has so much crime? Hasn’t it become worse in the last several years? Why?
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Desperation, lack of education & opportunity and a few other compounding factors.
SA currently has approx 33% unemployment rate, and even for those employed there’s a significant amount who are only just above the poverty line. Add in a national infrastructure that can’t cope with this and a lack of good options == desperate people to whom life is cheap, unfortunately.
Look at any of the most dangerous countries and you’ll find a common theme: people who have virtually nothing and no alternatives. It’s not unique to SA – Brazil, India, and various other African countries all have similar issues. SA just got extra screwed with the compounding legacy of apartheid.
SA is also the most unequal country in the world. It’s one of the richest in Africa, but that’s because of things like mineral and resource wealth and a large industrial base that in large part kickstarted during apartheid. It’s got more poor people than places like Botswana or Libya, and they’re jammed right next to comparatively rich people, so there’s both incentive and opportunity, the latter of which is often lacking in other countries.
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