6 289 murders in SA in Q4, Western Cape figures reflect a slight decrease in crime
|Published
Minister of Police Bheki Cele sits with his face resting in his hand, while wearing a blank expression on his face. He has on his ever-present hat, is also wearing a blue suit. Minister of Police Bheki Cele presented the quarterly crime statistics at the Imbizo Centre in Parliament, reflecting on crimes reported and detected by the SAPS. Picture: Armand Hough/African News Agency (ANA)
Cape Town - More than 6200 people were killed between January and March this year, according to the latest crime stats released by Police Minister Bheki Cele.
A total of 10 512 rape cases were registered during the first three months of this year, which represents a 2.8% decrease in cases compared to the same period in 2022.
Meanwhile, there were decreases in the number of carjackings (5.2%), robberies at non-residential premises (5.3%), and a 1.5% decrease in cash-in-transit heists, bank robberies and truck hijackings.
However, there were increases in robberies at residential premises (5.9%), assault GBH (0.2%), common robbery (8.9%), common assault (7.6%) and robbery with aggravating circumstances (5.1%).
Four police stations in the Western Cape made the top 5 national crime hotspot list.
Head of police crime research and statistics Lieutenant-General Norman Sekhukhune said Johannesburg Central police Station was at number one with 1 054 cases reported in the first three months of the year, which is a 6.7% increase compared to January and March last year.
It was followed by the Mfuleni, Nyanga and Mitchells Plain precincts.
In Mfuleni, 959 cases were reported between January and March this year, which is a 19.7% increase. In Nyanga there were 950 cases reported, an increase of 13.4%.
In Mitchells Plain there were 933 cases, an increase of 20.5% compared to the same period last year.
The fourth quarter statistics, January – March 2023 for the 2022/23 financial year, revealed that the Western Cape’s 14,1% reduction in the murder rate is the highest in the country. This was a decrease of 143 murders from 1 015 murders from last year.
Premier Alan Winde said the latest figures were encouraging.
“They reflect the hard work our women and men in blue are doing in working with us as a united front to further beat back crime.
“Fighting crime is complex but we are demonstrating that by utilising data, evidence and technology we can reduce crime.
“We, however, still have a very long way to go. Keeping residents safe means offering them dignity. And we as the Western Cape Government, along with all of our important partners in law enforcement, will do everything possible to keep fighting crime.”
Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen also welcomed the decrease.
“I am alarmed by the high increase in crime in some of the other areas. Gugulethu, Mitchells Plain and Philippi East are close to 30%, along with Delft and Nyanga, which have on a regular basis been increasing, they are of particular concern.
“This just makes us more determined to with aggression combat the ruthlessness of the heartless murderers in these communities.
“Our intention is to make the lives of criminals unbearable. They do not belong in our communities, instead they should be behind bars.”
He added that gang-related murders remain an ongoing concern.
“With 110 of the 152 murders nationally occurring in this province. Nationally, murder increased by 3.4%, with the Western Cape contributing 13.9%.
“The total contact crimes in the country increased by 3.7% and in the Province there was an increase of 4% for the period with the Western Cape contributing to 19.1% of all contact crimes in the country.”
Action Society’s Ian Cameron said: “The stats have shown that there is a minor decrease in terms of quarterly comparisons but it is still three murders an hour, 11 women a day and just under 80 people a day.
“We are speaking about 245 children a month, two and three kids a day.
“Rape is a minimum of 120 a day and remember that only one in nine rapes is reported and we have five rapes a day.
“If we carry on at exactly this rate, 250 000 people will be dead in 10 years’ time.”