An overview of the economic burden and workforce effects of violence in South Africa

Violence is a significant public health problem in South Africa. Despite an increasing focus on the effects of violence in the country, very little research has been applied to determining its health economic effects. As part of a call for such measurement, this article provides an overview of the current literature on such economic effects. It also presents a number of studies that have documented, but not translated, the psychosocial impact of violence on workers into the economic measures in a selected range of sectors in South Africa. The article concludes with a set of concrete recommendations for the design and implementation of a group of interrelated studies. That would better serve to measure and describe the impact of violence on South Africa's emerging economy.