Cele reveals crime-fighting Operation Shanela, latest crime stats

Cele and the police top brass on Tuesday morning briefed the nation on the crime statistics for the period January to March this year.

Murder increased countrywide, by 3.4% between January and March 2023 when compared to the same period last year.

In total, 6 289 people were killed with either a firearm, knife, sharp and blunt instruments, stone and even bare hands over the last three months.

“The majority of the killings took place in the Kwa Zulu-Natal, Western Cape and Gauteng provinces with arguments, vigilantism, and robberies topping the motive list for murder. The Kwa Zulu-Natal province also reported the highest figures of multiple-murder cases, followed by the Eastern Cape with 206 and 155 victims respectively,” Cele said.

“The Free State, Northern Cape, and Western Cape provinces recorded decreases in murder figures with both the Western Cape and Northern Cape reporting a double-digit decrease in murder cases.”

Cele welcomed the decrease in the Western Cape’s reported murders, attributing this to law enforcement targeting hotspots such as the Cape Flats.

The minister said, though still in its infancy, the nationwide rollout of Operation Shanela; which is the national rollout of Gauteng’s five-year-old Operation O Kae Molao; aims to curb crime by increasing resources and putting more boots on the ground.

“To address murder and other contact crimes, R65 million has been allocated to the Top 30 crime-heavy stations to address murder and other contact crimes. Over and above this additional funding, we are responding directly to calls by communities to increase the capability and training of the Tactical Response Teams.”

Nearly R2 billion has been set aside for the procurement of more police vehicles to improve police visibility.

R70 million of the current police budget will be allocated to support the equipment needs of community policing fora.

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