6 424 murder cases recorded between April and June 2022
South Africa’s murder rate has gone up – with KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, and the Western Cape, registering the highest number of the 6,424 murders between April and June this year.
This represents an increase of 664 cases, compared to the same period last year, when the country was still under lockdown.
Police Minister Bheki Cele released the latest statistics in Pretoria on Friday.
While the murder rate is up, there has been a decrease in sexual offences cases. Still, more than 9,500 rape cases were reported during the period under review.
“All three categories of assault have reported a decrease, this includes assault GBH which saw over 7% less cases. Contact crimes cases were 2,205 less compared to the same period last year. The reduction is inclusive of sexual offences, common robberies, common assault, and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. All these combined decreases have resulted in a 1.5% drop in all contact crimes,” Cele said.
While the murder rate continues to soar, the alarming statistics do not come as a surprise to those who’ve been calling for the police minister to be fired.
Cele has been blamed by some civil society organizations and political parties – such as Action Society – as crime in the country continues to spiral out of control.
Action Society’s Ian Cameron said: “It is an absolute atrocity to see how the murder rate has increased, compared to last year. It tells that about 71 people are murdered per day in South Africa and that’s almost a 6% increase”.
“We are definitely losing the fight against violence and crime, and I think this financial year will most likely be the bloodiest one we have seen for the past two decades,” he added.
A constitutional law expert has meanwhile criticized the unequal allocation of police resources in the Western Cape, as there are fewer boots on the ground in crime-ridden townships.
The Equality Court is yet to finalize a case brought by several NGOs, that challenges the skewed resource allocation. Constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos said police rely on reporting rates, which are considerably higher among the well-heeled.
“The way in which police have been allocating resources has not been equitable, with more resources going to the wealthy areas, and less in poorer areas in the Western Cape – for reasons that are not clear. This has not been changed, despite the overwhelming evidence in how there is a problem in how police are allocated.”
-EWN
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