South Africa records highest number of murder cases
Saturday November 20 2021
South African police officers. Police statistics show that crime and violence in South Africa have increased significantly in the last few months. PHOTO | FILE
South Africa’s Minister of Police Bekhi Cele on Friday released crime statistics, revealing that 6,163 people were killed between July and September, 2021, an increase in recorded murders by 1,056 compared to the corresponding period last year.
The new murder cases surpass the 5,700 people who were murdered in the previous quarter of April to June.
Current figures were recorded between July 1 and September 30, a period during which South Africa was under lockdown levels 4, 3 and 2.
Minister Cele said the July unrest which saw over 300 people killed largely contributed to the increase in the murder rate.
“Among the other factors that contributed to the increase in murders, was the July unrests which mostly affected the KwaZulu-Natal province and Gauteng. This is evidenced by the… province recording a 44.4% increase in murder cases in the period of July to September this year,” said Mr Cele.
The killing of women and children is also on the rise according to police statistics.
A total of 897 women were killed, which is a 7.7 percent increase from the last quarter while murders children accounted for 31.7 percent.
Inanda, which is in KwaZulu-Natal, recorded the highest number of murders.
However, Western Cape Province, which has Nyanga township regarded as the murder capital of South Africa, recorded a 0.2 decrease in killings.
The murder rate in South Africa is one of the highest in the world due to robberies, cash-in-transit heists, gang violence, car hijackings and taxi violence which are all crimes committed through the use of guns
Statistics also showed that rape crimes are on the rise, something Mr Cele described as “deeply disturbing” after almost 10,000 cases were recorded in just three months.
Rape cases reported were 9,556, which is a rise from 8,922 people raped during the same period in 2020.
“The majority of people raped are women and those most vulnerable in our society,” said Minister Cele.
Mr Cele said the majority of rape victims were violated inside their own homes by people familiar to them whom they trusted.
Four hundred of the rape cases were linked to domestic violence.
“The crime picture is not ideal, but these figures show things are getting better in areas where crime was the highest. We responded to that and deployed our people to where they are needed most,” said Minister Cele.
He added that the July unrest did not only contribute to murder but other crimes like arson and theft.