SA crime stats: Decrease in rape, but ‘worrisome’ increase in murders

Women’s month will end on a note of mixed feelings, after Minister of Police Bheki Cele delivered South Africa’s crime stats from the last quarter, announcing a decrease in sexual offences but an increase in murders.

The first quarter crime stats delivered by Cele on Friday were for the period between April and June 2022.

Cele said sexual offences, such as rape, sexual assault, attempted sexual offences and contact sexual offences had decreased by more than 800 cases.

But even with a decrease of sexual offences cases compared to stats from the same period last year, the number of rape cases reported remains high, with only moderate numbers around convictions.

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There were 9 516 rape cases opened with Saps between April and June 2022. The North West and Northern Cape provinces are the only provinces to report increases in this crime category.

Disturbingly, 3 780 of these rapes took place in the homes of either the rapists or victims. Around 1 546 people were raped in public places such as streets, parks and beaches.

Public transportation such as buses, taxis and trains were the third most likely places for rape cases.

Rape prosecutions

Between April and June this year, 286 rapists were convicted through investigative work done by the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit. Out of the 286 rape convictions, 46 of the rapists were sentenced to life behind bars. Only 16 offenders involved in 65 serial sexual offence cases were finalised and convicted.

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A total of 12 283 cases of rape and murder were prioritised by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Saps Forensic Science Laboratories, from August 2021 to July 2022.

Assault

Three categories of assault have reported decreases, including assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm (GBH) which saw over 7% fewer cases.

There were 2 205 fewer contact crimes compared to the same period last year.

These include sexual offences, common robberies, common assault and assault with intent to inflict GBH.

All these combined decreases have resulted in a 1.5% drop in contact crimes.

Murder on the rise

In the most sombre of tones, Cele announced that the number of murders in the country still remains high and worrisome. He said that 6 424 people were killed by other persons in South Africa in the first quarter of 2022/2023 financial year.

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This is an increase of 664 more people murdered, compared to the same period last year, when the country was placed under Covid-19 lockdown level one and two. The three main causes for murders are arguments and misunderstandings, retaliation and revenge, and vigilantism.

SA’s murder capital

The KwaZulu-Natal province recorded the highest number of multiple murders, followed by Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. Multiple murders are crimes in which two of more victims were killed. The majority of these murders were committed with a firearm.

The Umlazi, Plessislaer police stations in KwaZulu-Natal and uMthatha station in the Eastern Cape registered the highest murder cases during this period. He said that 221 murder cases were reported in those three areas combined.

“The police ministry and Saps management recently met with Umlazi policing structures, traditional and religious leaders, business and the youth in an effort to tighten policing in the area. It is during this engagement that the improvement of police response time and shortage of vehicles and how environmental design impeded policing was raised sharply and is being urgently addressed at national, provincial and local government level.

“The multi-stakeholder approach and working closely with the community in the Umlazi policing area, should have an impact on violent crime if sustained and maintained as agreed,” he explained.