THE crime stats which were presented by the Minister of Police, Nkosinathi Nhleko, and the National Commissioner of Police, General Riah Phiyega, to the police portfolio committee have revealed that there were 782 more murders in 2014/15 compared with the previous year – an increase of 4.6 per cent – according to media reports.
Of the 27 crime categories presented in the data, only 11 had decreases in reported criminal activity from 2014 to 2015.
According to reports, Phiyega said contact crimes remained stubborn.
She said there were 1 620 more sexual offences detected related to police action in 2014/15 compared with the previous year – an increase of 34.4 per cent.
This brought the number up from 4 720 in 2013/14 to 6 340 in the current period.
Phiyega said a very large proportion of contact crimes involve those known to each other and frequently linked to arguments.
She said perpetrators are largely young men and are unemployed, and some cases are related to domestic violence.
KwaZulu-Natal was rated second highest in the country for sexual offences.
