Crime stats make for grim reading
The murder rate rose by 4.6 per cent nationally, with more than 17 000 people killed in the past year.
THE release of this year’s national crime stats makes for grim reading. Despite Police Minister Nathi Nhleko’s attempt to put a brave face on the crime statistics, which he released on Tuesday, murder has alarmingly increased by 4.6 per cent. What’s more, 17 805 people were killed around the country during the 2014/15 policing year.
Bank robberies and cash-in-transit heists have dropped, as gangs moved to hijackings, business robberies and home robberies, all of which are up. Nationally, carjacking increased by 14.2 per cent and house robberies increased by 5.2 per cent.
KwaZulu-Natal registered the most number of murders per annum for at least each of the last 10 years.
At a local level, however, there was a decrease in the crime stats for both the Durban North and Greenwood Park SAPS, with the former having its biggest increase in shoplifting, with 860 reported cases reported in 2013/14, while there were 913 cases reported between 2014/15, an increase of 6.2 per cent.
Greenwood Park also saw a noticeable decrease in serious crimes, with a 34 per cent increase in business robberies. There had also been an increase in drug-related crime as well as drunk driving arrests.
