Murder rate on the rise, Cele announces
WHILE there has been a decrease in contact crime, sexual offences, contact-related crime and property crime, police have recorded an increase in commercial crimes as well as other serious crimes in the first quarter of 2022/23.
Police have also expressed concerns at the murder rate, which shows that 664 more people have been killed since the start of the reporting period compared to the same period last year.
It is understood that the three main causes for murders remain arguments and misunderstandings; retaliations and revenge murders were the second motive for murder, and vigilantism was the third most likely cause of murder in South Africa.
Police Minister Bheki Cele yesterday presented an update of the crime statistics covering April 1 to June 2022.
He said sexual violence, which covers rape, sexual assault, attempted sexual offences and contact sexual offences, had decreased.
“This means there was a drop of over 800 cases of sexual offences that are far more often perpetrated on women. Between April and June this year, 286 rapists were convicted through investigative work done by the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit. Out of the 286 rape convictions, 46 of the rapists were sentenced to life behind bars.
“While the majority of rapes do take place behind closed doors and are hard to police, we are confident that it is through the FCS detective work that more rapes are being prevented, hence the decrease in rape cases during the reporting period,” Cele said.
The minister said 6 424 people had been killed during the first quarter of the 2022/2023 financial year.
Cele said this was an increase of 664 people murdered compared to the same period last year, when the country was placed under Covid-19 lockdown levels one and two.
Cele commended provincial commissioners for the significant reduction in a number of priority crimes during the reporting period.
“We further encourage all provincial commissioners to continue to increase their efforts in crime prevention and crime-combating operations. Most importantly, community policing partnerships and expanding the eyes and ears of law enforcement on the ground must be intensified. We also encourage South Africans to work with the police and provide information that can assist in police investigations. Police at station level are also directed to continue to improve the quality of service provided to the communities they serve and protect,” he said.