A report analysing 9 000 documents of serious and violent crime is expected to be completed by the end of the year and presented to Cabinet early next year, Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula said on Monday.

Speaking in Johannesburg, Nqakula said that a private company had been appointed to investigate and report on crime trends in South Africa over the 2006/7 financial year.

The report would reveal how the country's high level of crime was dealt with, and how many people were killed in the country over that period.

Nqakula said that the high number of social crimes in the country was an indication of a problem in society.

“We have discovered that 80% of murders in South Africa are as a consequence of social crime, particularly between people known to one another.”

He also called on communities to take part in community policing forums.

Nqakula said that community policing forums should be funded by government directly, and that it was the responsibility of local government to provide office space and pay for services including, lights, water, furniture and communication means.

Local government should increase the allowance given to the forum and ensure that it was not housed at the police station, especially as it had to build strong community relationships, he said.

Nqakula added that in areas with a strong community policing forum, such as Bedfordview and Sebokeng, there was a significant drop in crime rates.

Government has allocated a material budget spend of R43-billion and human resource allocation of 190 000 personnel in safety and security by 2010, almost double that of 2003, when it allocated R22-billion.