Crime figures show SA at war with itself
Latest statistics reveal 179,683 crimes against women and 1,014 cases of murder of children
SA’s war with itself is getting worse.
The latest annual crime statistics, released on Thursday, showed a major escalation in violence, as the number of murders climbed to the highest level in a decade. They also showed a rise in major crimes such as sexual assault and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
A total of 179,683 crimes against women were reported.
These increases come amid a public outcry over recent attacks against women, and widespread looting and violence against foreign nationals in Gauteng during the past few weeks.
It is another blow for President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has made fighting crime and restoring the health of key institutions such as the National Prosecuting Authority a priority of his government, after they had been brought to their knees during his predecessor Jacob Zuma’s corruption-scarred presidency.
The catastrophic levels of crime and ineffective law enforcement make it harder to sell the country as an attractive place for investors to pour money into or for skilled foreigners to move to.
Police minister Bheki Cele told parliament’s police portfolio committee on Thursday that the statistics were “not very rosy”, revealing a 3.4% increase in murders during the 2018/2019 financial year. The minister said the number of murders by people who were known by victims had increased significantly.
Maj-Gen Norman Sekhukhune, the national head of crime statistics, said 60% of murders happened between Friday and Sunday, and 70% between Friday and Monday.
Sekhukhune said there were 1,014 cases of murder of children in the past financial year, an increase of 29 cases over the previous year. In 736 of these cases, the perpetrators were children themselves.
SA’s murder rate is more than six times higher than that of the US, a country that is plagued by high rates of gun violence, Bloomberg reports.
DA police spokesperson Andrew Whitfield said “of
particular concern” was the murder rate, which equated to 57.5 people being murdered every day. “The police are also losing the battle against genderbased violence.”
EFF MP Tseko Mafanya said 200,000 murders over a decade is an indication of a society at war with itself and proposed a security cluster summit. An interdepartmental approach is needed, he said.
Institute of Security Studies senior researcher Andrew Faull said the biggest concern is that violent crime continues to soar, though he identified some reasons to be hopeful.
“We have seen a 35% increase over the past few years and this is very concerning. If there is a glimmer of hope, it is that the increase slowed this year,” he said.
“Also good news is that certain categories of aggravated robbery such as cash-in-transit heists and bank robberies are down. That is good because we know the police can address those kinds of crime with careful and intentional policing and what we want to see now is this same intentional and planned policing targeting the most violent areas.”
As most murders and other forms of violence are linked to interpersonal conflict, they are difficult to police, Faull said.
University of Cape Town safety and violence initiative director Guy Lamb highlighted the availability of firearms and alcohol abuse as driving factors behind violent crime.
1,014 the number of murder cases of children in the past financial year