By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The South African Police Service has published its latest crime stats, tracking criminal patterns in the country between January to March 2021.
Presenting the statistics, police minister Bheki Cele pointed to an overall decline of 8.5% in contact crimes including assault, sexual offences, common assault and robbery during the quarter, with only two criminal types in this category recording an increase.
These were murder and attempted murder, which recorded an 8.4% and 8.7% increase, respectively.
Cele noted that 4,976 people were killed in the first three months of 2021 – 387 more people killed compared to the corresponding period in the previous financial year.
“The Mpumalanga province recorded the same number of murders as in the corresponding period in the previous financial year. The Mpumalanga province is joined by Limpopo, Free State and Northern Cape in recording decreases in their murder cases,” he said.
“However it is concerning that the Eastern Cape and the Kwa- Zulu Natal provinces recorded double digit increases, standing at 21.5% and 16.9% respectively.”
While all cases of assault decreased by over 9%, there were still over 75,000 cases of common assault and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) opened with the police between January and March.
In 2,855 incidents of assault GBH, it was confirmed that alcohol was consumed either by the victim or the perpetrator or both, Cele said.
Over two thousand incidents of Assault GBH took place at either a bar, a night club, a tavern or a shebeen. This doesn’t exclude alcohol being present in parks, beaches and other places of entertainment,” he said.
The Gauteng and Western Cape provinces recorded the highest assault cases. 16,528 incidents of assaults both common and grievous bodily harm were domestic related, which means the victim and perpetrator knew each other.
Taking all stats into account, crime decreased by 14.4% over the quarter. While Cele credited the decrease to more effective policing, it should be noted that the country was also in a higher level of lockdown at the start of the year.
SA crime stats: Q3 2020 vs Q4 2020
| Q3 vs Q4 | Oct – Dec 2020 | Jan – Mar 2021 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact Crimes | 171 764 | 137 314 | -20.1% |
| Contact-related Crimes | 30 989 | 25 582 | -17.4% |
| Property-related Crimes | 99 034 | 91 223 | -7.9% |
| Other Serious Crimes | 97 931 | 93 801 | -4.2% |
| Total public reported | 399 718 | 347 920 | -13.0% |
| Crime detected as a result of police action | 59 800 | 50 034 | -16.3% |
| Total | 459 518 | 397 954 | -13.4% |
SA crime stats: Q4 2019 vs Q4 2020
| 2019 vs 2020 | Jan – Mar 2020 | Jan – Mar 2021 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact Crimes | 150 132 | 137 314 | -8.5% |
| Contact-related Crimes | 26 959 | 25 582 | -5.1% |
| Property-related Crimes | 115 214 | 91 223 | -20.8% |
| Other Serious Crimes | 104 161 | 93 801 | -9.9% |
| Total public reported | 396 466 | 347 920 | -12.2% |
| Crime detected as a result of police action | 68 658 | 50 034 | -27.1% |
| Total | 465 124 | 397 954 | -14.4% |
- Contact crimes include murder, attempted murder and sexual offences, as well as common assault and robbery.
- Contact-related crimes include arson and malicious injury to property.
- Other serious crimes include commercial crime, shop-lifting and all other types of theft – while aggravated robbery includes hijackings, robbery at residences and cash-in-transit heists and bank robberies.
- Crimes detected as a result of police action cover crimes discovered by active policing, such as road-blocks and raids. Categories covered by this are the illegal possession of firearms, DUI or driving under the influence (of drugs or alcohol); and the use, possession or trade of illegal drugs.
Other key statistics include:
- Farm attacks: in the first three months of 2021, 11 people were killed in 10 incidents of murder, which occurred in farms and small-holdings. Four of those murdered were farm dwellers, four were farmers or farm owners; two of the victims were farm employees, while one was a night guard at a farm workshop.
- Rape: While there has been a decline in sexual offences cases, 9,518 people were allegedly raped between January and March. A sample of 6,893 of the rape incidents revealed that 4,130 of such incidents took place at the home of the victim or the home of the alleged rapist.
- The Eastern Cape’s Lusikisiki police station recorded the highest incidents of rape, overtaking the Inanda station, which has sadly held the number one position for some years.
- Hijacking: Aggravated robberies such as carjacking increased by almost 5%. Carjacking took place mostly in formal and non-formal residence in the country’s townships followed by suburbs in urban areas.
Cele said armed robberies and housebreaking cases were on the rise.
The minister has also decried the callous murder of 24 police officers in the country in the first three months of 2021.
Cele highlighted the plague while releasing the crime statistics of the fourth quarter of the 2020/21 financial year.
The “unfolding crisis”, he said, had the potential to “threaten” the country’s peace and stability.
“Eleven of them were killed on duty while preventing, combating or solving a crime,” said the Minister at a briefing on Friday.
Some of the officers were attacked or ambushed, while conducting patrols, and had their official firearms stolen.
The National Crime Statistics the Minister released reflect crimes reported to the South African Police Service (SAPS) from 1 January to 31 March 2021.