Murder, sexual offences on the rise
Sexual offences against children increased by more than 800 cases and their murder by 29 cases during the 2018/19 financial year.
The country’s latest crime statistics show that murder increased by 3.4% while sexual offences, including rape and sexual assault, by 4.6% and attempted murder by 4.1%.
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There were 21 022 murders in the 2018/19 financial year - 686 more than the previous year.
Head of Police Crime Research and Statistics Norman Sekhukhune briefed the Parliament’s police portfolio committee on the latest crime stats on Thursday morning.
Sekhukhune said some of these murders have been committed by other minors.
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"We have the number where we show the murders that have been committed by children during the current financial year was 736 and that is instances where the children were the perpetrators and not the victims of the murder.
"Another figure that is quite concerning is the common assault which has been committed by children ranging at 4196."
Police Minister Bheki Cele admitted that the crime stats are not great but said they are an improvement on the previous year.
"Basically chair, our statistics are not very rosy. There are good practices that were dropped, no doubt about that. We will use those practices again.
"We can go back to the tried and tested methodology."
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