Johannesburg - Police Minister Bheki Cele has released the third quarter crime figures reported to the SAPS from October to December 2022.
The figures released show increased numbers of various crimes, painting a grim picture of the criminality prevalent in South Africa.
Contact crimes increased by 11.6%, contact-related crimes increased by 1.8%, all property-related crimes increased by 7.2% and sexual offences decreased by 25.4%.
In the past few months, South Africa has seen a trend in mass shootings in various parts of the country, evoking concerns about widespread gun violence.
As a result, there have been calls by political parties and citizens for stringent regulations on firearm control with the aim of preventing continued trends.
The recent statistics indicate that out of the 7 555 people murdered in the three months of reporting, 3 144 were killed with a firearm, and 2 498 were killed with other weapons such as knives, sharp and blunt instruments, bricks and in many cases, bare hands.
While this continues to be a major crisis, the SAPS says it is and will continue to intensify intelligence-led operations to take down individuals or organised criminals hell-bent on terrorising communities.
The calls also intensified after the renowned global hip hop star AKA was gunned down in Durban with his long-term friend Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane.
Cele said in the past 12 months alone, police had permanently removed and destroyed 65 519 firearms.
“The SAPS will continue to intensify operations to detect and remove illegal firearms and ammunition, while legislation intervention in the Amendment to the Firearms Control Act, to address the availability of guns in our communities is under way,” he said.
“The violence that is stalking communities is translated to the increased number of assaults, which escalate to attempted murders and in some cases murder.
“The reality is that assaults are feeders of domestic violence and other violent crimes. 42-year-old Given Vhuromu was found guilty of 10 counts of rape and robbery of women and young girls in the Vuwani area in Limpopo.”
He cites high rates of unemployment and poverty levels, the mushrooming of informal settlements with little to no services, and other socio-economic ills that are breeding criminality, coupled with a high number of undocumented foreign nationals who are hard to trace after the commission of a crime.
“We are calling on all provincial commissioners to take a queue from Gauteng and intensify their provincial operations, focusing on troublesome stations and removing them from the TOP 30 high crime stations, both nationally and provincially.”
The Star