Breakfast Edition: 30 September 2015
WATCH & LITSEN: Here's a recap of this moring's top news stories.
CRIME STATISTICS RELEASED: This morning South Africans are still mulling over the higher violent crime stats that were released yesterday, with the murder rate increasing for a third year in a row. The Western Cape has emerged as the most dangerous province in the country - measured by murder. The murder rate in South Africa is up 4.6 percent, National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega revealed on Tuesday.
Briefing Parliament's portfolio committee on police, Phiyega's presentation on the 2014/2015 crime statistics showed the attempted murder rate was up 3.2 percent. "Contact crimes remain stubborn in this financial year. It should be noted that contact crimes are policed after the fact," she said. Property-related crimes saw a downward trend, decreasing 0.8 percent, to 30.8 percent. Other serious crimes were down 2.2 percent to 27.8 percent. As Maryke Vermaak reports, 18 000 people were murdered in South Africa between April last year and the end of March this year.
BANK ROBBERIES DOWN: One of the crimes that have dropped significantly in numbers are bank robberies which have shown a steady decline of over 71% over the past decade and 19% last year. The South African Banking Risk Information Centre's Kalyani Pillay says although they welcome this, the down side is that the amount of cash taken in bank robberies, ATM-bombings and cash-in-transit heists has actually increased significantly.
MARIKANA CLAIMS ARE BEING DELT WITH: The Government is to initiate an alternative dispute resolution process to speed-up the processing of all claims arising from the Marikana massacre. A judge, assisted by experts, will be asked to lead this process in order to reinforce its independence. The presidency said in a statement that it will engage with the legal representatives of claimants, and encourage them to use this process. The presidency's Bongani Majola.
HEATWAVE WARNING DURING ANTI CORRUPTION MARCH IN PTA: Later this morning, the civil society marches against corruption will take place in a cold and wet Cape Town and super-hot Pretoria. The Tshwane Emergency Services have already received reports of people who have suffered from heat exhaustion. Spokesman, Johan Pieterse has some tips for dealing with the heat.
THAT'S NOT THE LAVITORY: And for most of us the signs indicating a toilet on an airplane are pretty clear - but for one passenger on a KLM flight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam, apparently it wasn't as obvious. He was arrested and fined 600 Euros after trying to OPEN the EXIT on board the passenger jet, 30 000 feet in the air. His excuse? He thought it was the lavatory.
LET'S HAVE A TEA PARTY WITH DAD: When not in the line of duty a US police officer still has a very important responsibility - being a father. Corporal Adam Dillman shared a photo of himself on twitter, in full uniform at a tea party with his daughter, before heading to work.
