WeeklySA_AdminBy Monk Nkomo
The first three months of this year were violent and brutal with women and children being the main victims of murder and sexual violence, according to Police Minister, Bheki Cele.
Releasing crime figures for January, February and March on Friday, Cele said murder, attempted murder and assault GBH of women and children under the age of 17 recorded sharp increases with 1107 more people killed compared to the same period last year. Out of the 6083 killed, 898 were women and 306 were children under the age of 17.
Cele said the murder of children recorded an increase of 37,2 percent.
The Police Minister was also concerned about the 10818 people who were raped countrywide during the first three months. A total 4653 of these rapes took place at the homes of either the victim or the attacker. Alcohol abuse has been blamed as the main reason for 1290 of these rape cases. Areas that recorded the highest number of rape cases were identified as Lusikisiki police station in Eastern Cape, Inanda in KwaZulu-Natal and Delft police station in Western Cape.
Assault GBH cases showed a drastic increase with 6575 incidents reported. Kidnapping cases were also on the rise with about 1700 more cases reported compared to the same period last year. Hotspots for kidnappings were identified as Kempton Park, Heidelberg and Delmas in Mpumalanga.
Property-related crimes increased by 0,1 percent , burglary cases at non-residential premises declined by 6,4 percent.
‘’ The first three months of this year were violent, brutal and unsafe for many South Africans. The triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment increasingly encouraged opportunistic criminal behaviour’’, said Cele. ‘’ The socio-economic situation in the country has also directly impacted on crime levels.
Cele said the first three months were marred by more murders, sexual violence and assaults compared to the same period last year.
Police made same gains and intercepted criminal syndicates involved in extortion, kidnappings and cash-in-transit heists as well as drug smuggling. ‘’ Unfortunately, their collective action have not yielded the expected results’’, said Cele.
Causes for the violent crimes included vigilantism, revenge or retaliation and robberies. The figures, Cele said, served as a call of action for the government, business, NGO’s, civil society and respective communities to come on board and join the police in their fight against crime.
The Police Minister also lamented the poor working conditions and the rotten apples in the police force and warned that the South African Police Services would not be a haven for criminals disguised as officers of the law. He also promised to root out police officers who failed the communities they served. Police in all provinces should start doing things differently in an effort to fight crime. He also called on police to respond swiftly to acts of crime. ‘’ However, police alone cannot win the fight against crime. They need to work closely with communities built on trust, commitment and delivery,’’ said Cele.
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