Murder rate in Gauteng increases
Gauteng has recorded a 4.9% decrease in crimes related to robbery, assault, and attempted murder, but murder continued to increase over the past 10 years.
Provincial police commissioner Deliwe de Lange and Gauteng Community Safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane released the 2017/18 Gauteng crime statistics at the Gauteng provincial legislature on Tuesday.
In the 2016/17 financial year, 4101 murders were reported in the province, while in 2017/18 the number of murders recorded stands at 4233.
‘We did not perform too well in relation to murder, where the percentage increased by 3.2%, giving us 132 more cases more than the last financial year. From this 2017/18 murders, 2330 suspects were arrested, with successful convictions in 726 cases,” said de Lange.
She said multiple murders contributed to the increase.
“We had over 200 murders committed during mob justice incidents, over 100 murders were due to taxi-related matters, 23 illegal mining, and 12 farm murders.”
Of the murders recorded, 549 cases were women and 108 were children.
The statistics show that murder reported to the Moroka Police Station, west of Soweto, increased from 50 in 2016/17 to 97 in the 2017/18. This is an increase of 94%.
Cash-in-transit heists also increased sharply. While only 33 were reported in the previous year, 80 new cases were opened in the 2017/18 financial year.
“Yes, I can say Gauteng is a safer province compared to the previous year. In most categories, contact crimes are the most crimes affecting individual people and we managed to decrease that crime. There is a still a lot to be done, not only by the police alone but if everyone can come on board. We can turn Gauteng upside down. I can boldly say Gauteng is a little bit safer than last year,” added De Lange.
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