Murders are more common in rural areas

And the worst place to be is the Cacadu district in the Eastern Cape

MURDERS are more rife in the rural areas of South Africa, the South African Institute for Race Relations says.

A study done by the institute compares 46 district municipalities and six metropolitan municipalities using four serious crime categories: murder, aggravated robbery, sexual offences and drug-related crime.

Cacadu district in Eastern Cape has the highest number of murders with a rate of 73 per 100,000 people.

"A person in South Africa is likely to be murdered in the Cacadu district municipality of Eastern Cape, sexually assaulted in the Xhariep district of Free State, violently robbed personally or at their business premises in the City of Johannesburg, and is most vulnerable to attack if they own a home in the Metsweding district of Gauteng," the SAIRR said.

The people who are most prone to be victims of murder crimes are males between the ages of 18 to 34.

"In general, violence against persons is more prevalent in rural areas while offenders in urban areas seemed more preoccupied with the violent appropriation of material possessions," the SAIRR's Kerwin Lebone said.

The City of Johannesburg had the highest rates of aggravated and business robberies, and the second highest rate of residential robbery after the Metsweding municipality.

More than 47,289 cases of robbery with aggravating circumstances were reported from March 2009 to April 2010, along with 20,107 cases of common robbery.