By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Murder, rape and other serious contact crimes increased in Gauteng, according to the third quarter crime statistics.
Gauteng police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela, presented the statistics on Tuesday before the Gauteng legislature at Gold Reef City, in Johannesburg.
The statistics cover the period between 1 October and 31 December 2022.
The province recorded a whopping 1721 murders in just three months, with firearms used in the majority of the killings.
“Most of the people in Gauteng are being murdered using a firearm and in total it is 852. As I indicated before, 852 reflects the number of victims murdered and not the number of firearms used for the commission of crime because more than one person can be used by one firearm. The second used instrument preferred when killing the victim is a knife with 193 and a sharp instrument also featured there with 72,” says Mawela.
The number of women killed in Gauteng is also on the rise, increasing by 89 to 278 in the third quarter.
The number of men and women who have died as a result of domestic violence stood at 37.
When comparing contact crimes against woman, children between October and December 2022 to the same period in 2021, the figures show an alarming trend across the board.
An increase of 168 (9%) rape cases were reported (2 033 during 3Q compared to 1 865 during Q2), while sexual assault increased by 8.5% (282 in 2021 compared to 306 in 2022).
Meanwhile, attempted sexual offences increase by 26.2%, from 65 cases in 2021 to 82 cases during the same period in 2022.
Domestic violence by district
Johannesburg District had the most cases of reported domestic violence (939) with the intent to inflict grievous body harm when compared to other districts:
- Ekurhuleni: 527
- Johannesburg District: 939
- Sedibeng: 168
- Tshwane: 374
- West Rand: 203
Ekurhuleni had the highest number of reported murders (17) followed by Johannesburg District with eight, Sedibeng with five, West Rand with four and Tshwane with three.
The release of the crime statistics comes after a previous report released in February by Police Minister Bheki Cele.
The previous quarter’s report showed an increase in murder, rape, and other serious contact crimes, while police recorded an increase of 696 murders between October and December.