Gauteng crime stats: Murder, rape increase; GBV identified as main factor

Gauteng Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela shared the province’s Q3 crime statistics for October and December 2022 on Tuesday.

Rape, murder, attempted murder and other serious contact crimes increased in the province, with an overall increase of 7.1%.

Gauteng crime stats

Mawela said Gauteng contributed 27.1% of crime in South Africa during the third quarter.

According to Mawela, the main drivers of these crimes where assault and gender-based violence.

He said authorities have been appealing to the public “to find ways other than violence to resolve conflict”.

Mawela added: “We have previously highlighted that assault and GBV are the main contributors”.

Gender-based violence (GBV)

When comparing contact crimes against woman children between October and December 2022 to the same period in 2021, the figures show an alarming trend across the board.

An increase of 168 (9%) rape cases were reported (2 033 during 3Q compared to 1 865 during Q2), while sexual assault increased by 8.5% (282 in 2021 compared to 306 in 2022).

Meanwhile, attempted sexual offences increase by 26.2%, from 65 cases in 2021 to 82 cases during the same period in 2022.

Domestic violence by district

Johannesburg District had the most cases of reported domestic violence (939) with the intent to inflict grievous body harm when compared to other districts:

• Ekurhuleni: 527
• Johannesburg District: 939
• Sedibeng: 168
• Tshwane: 374
• West Rand: 203

Ekurhuleni had the highest number of reported murders (17) followed by Johannesburg District with eight, Sedibeng with five, West Rand with four and Tshwane with three.

Previous crime stats report

The release of the crime statistics comes after a previous report released in February by Police Minister Bheki Cele.

The previous quarter’s report showed an increase in murder, rape, and other serious contact crimes, while police recorded an increase of 696 murders between October and December.

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