On 18 November 2011, the Presidency’s Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), with the technical and financial support from the Programme to Support Pro-Poor Policy Development (PSPPD), held a workshop to examine crime and violence in South Africa. At the core of the workshop was a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) which, using South African and international research evidence, sought to determine what the causes behind violent crime in South Africa were.