By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The first three months of 2022 were violent, brutal and unsafe for most South Africans, the quarterly police crime statistics have revealed.
Releasing the statistics on Friday, Police Minister Bheki Cele said the fourth quarter (Q4) of the 2021/22 financial year was marred by increased murders, sexual violence and assaults, compared to the same time period in the previous year.
Cele said January, February and March of 2022 were especially brutal for women and children.
“Murder, attempted murder and assault GBH of women all recorded double-digit increases. Murder and assault GBH of children under the age of 17 also recorded sharp increases,” he said.
He said the first three months of 2022 were marred by more murders, more sexual violence and more assaults in comparison to the same period in 2021.
“All in all these statistics don’t give us a good picture,” said Cele.
According to the crime statistics, there was a 22.2% increase in murder, with 1 107 more people killed between January and March when compared to the same period last year.
A total of 2 268 people were murdered in public places, such as open fields, streets, parking areas and abandoned buildings.
“The second most likely place for murder to occur is at the home of the victim or of the perpetrator; in that environment, 1 350 people were killed. Liquor outlets and public transport, such as buses, taxis or trains, were the third and fourth most likely places to be killed in South Africa,” Cele said.
He said sexual offences recorded a 13.7% increase, with contact sexual offences the only decrease in this category.
“In the first three months of this year, 10 818 people were raped in South Africa. Almost half of the cases, a staggering 4 653 rapes took place at the home of the rape victim or the home of the rapist,” he said.
The Eastern Cape’s Lusikisiki police station, Inanda in KwaZulu-Natal, and Delft in the Western Cape recorded the highest incidents of rape for this quarter.
The 2021/22 Q4 saw carjackings increase by 889, from 4513 to 5 402. Robberies at residential and non-residential residences respectively decreased by 0.4% and 3.5%.
Cash-in-transits cases rose by 26.2%, from 42 cases to 53.
Cape Town Central, Honeydew and Durban Central police stations lead the way in the top 30 stations in 17 community-related serious crimes. Of the 30, 27 are in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Western Cape. The Eastern Cape, Free State and North West each have a station represented in this category.
Bank robberies have increased by four counts, from one case in 2021 to five counts.
Cele has also unveiled the Station Accountability Plan in an effort to curb the country’s soaring crime levels.
He said the plan would only work if all station commanders were empowered and supported through National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola’s management.
“Build and restore relations between organised community structures, and the broader society you serve and your members. It is a fact that the SAPS has thousands of hard-working and dedicated officers, who on a daily put their lives at risk in the execution of their duties,” said the Minister.
Unfortunately, he said, “there are police officers that are failing communities”.
The Station Accountability Plan will ensure that Community Service Centres are not scenes of secondary victimisation by police, he said.