SA sees drop in murder rate – Mchunu
Arguments remain the leading cause of murders in South Africa, followed by retaliation and revenge.
The police minister and the top brass of the South African Police Service released the fourth quarter crime statistics in Tshwane on Friday. The statistics indicate that the overall number of murder incidents between January and March this year decreased compared to the same period last year.
While they’ve recorded decreases, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, and the Eastern Cape contributed the bulk of murder incidents nationally.
According to the minister, 5,727 murders occurred between January and March this year, which marks a drop of more than 800 cases compared to the same period last year.
Gauteng recorded 1,439 murders in the period under review, accounting for 25% of the overall national statistics, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 1193 reported murders, and the Western Cape with 1,068 cases.
Most murders occurred in public spaces, with 765 of the country’s 2,990 cases reported in Gauteng.
More than 1,500 murders occurred in the home of the victim or the perpetrator.
Gauteng also reported the highest number of murders involving two or more victims, with 52 cases involving 191 victims.
The Western Cape follows with 57 cases involving 123 victims.
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Elaborating on the causative factors for cases involving five or more victims the police cite the Pienaar tavern shooting in which nine people were killed, the murder of seven people during a random shooting and arson incident in Kagiso, the killing of seven community patrollers in Soshanguve’s Marry Me informal settlement, the discovery of six decomposed bodies of suspected illegal miners that were found with gunshot wounds in Diepkloof, and the mass murder of six men aged between 21 and 27 in Kwazakhele in KZN.
WEAPON OF CHOICE…
Guns remain the most common weapon used to commit murders in South Africa.
A total of 2,559 people were shot dead in the fourth quarter, 697 of those occurring in Gauteng.
Knives come in second, causing 829 deaths in total.
Sharp instruments were used in 364 murders, followed by blunt instruments in 207 cases.
In his overview, Minister Mchunu said police were working to toughen restrictions on regulated firearms and remove illegal guns from the streets.
“In the quarter under review, 4,023 cases of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition were registered, a 2.7% increase compared to the same period last year. A total of 16,049 firearms were destroyed by the SAPS in February this year.
“In addition, Operation Shanela continues to deliver results. One thousand six hundred forty-one illegal firearms and 24,288 rounds of ammunition were seized during this reporting period,” he said.
Operation Shanela is a police high-density operation that was launched in May 2023.
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