Speaking notes delivered by Police Minister General Bheki Cele (MP) at the release of the quarter two crime statistics 2022/2023 hosted in Pretoria, Gauteng, on Wednesday 23 November 2022
Deputy Minister of Police, Hon Cassel Mathale;
National Commissioner of the SAPS; General Fannie Masemola; National Head of DPCI, Adv/Dr Lt General Godfrey Lebeya; Deputy National Commissioners;
Provincial Commissioners and Divisional Commissioners; Senior Officers;
Members of the Media; Ladies and Gentlemen; Good afternoon
The crime statistics we are releasing this afternoon reflect crimes that were reported to the South African Police Service from the 1st of July up to the 30th September 2022.
These crime figures are compared to the same period in 2021, when the country was still under Lockdown due to the outbreak of the COVID-19.
Between July to September 2021, the country was under lockdown level 4, 3 and 2.
Women
The rate at which women are abused, violated and some killed in South Africa remains worrying and unacceptable; many are killed by the people they know, people they love and trust.
As we edge closer to commemorating the commencement of the global 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign on the 25th of November, the reality is women continue to be victims of violent crimes in South Africa.
In the three months of reporting, a double-digit percentage increase was recorded for murder, attempted murder and assault GBH against women.
Over 13 000 women were victims of assault with intend to cause grievous bodily harm between July and September 2022.
1 277 women were victims of attempted murder, and 989 women were murdered during this reporting period.
Rape
Over 10 000 rape cases were opened with the SAPS, between July and September this year.
From a sample of 8227 rape incidents that were perused, it was determined that 5 083 which is 62% of these incidents occurred at the residence of the victims or perpetrators.
1 651 of the rape incidents occurred at public places such as streets, parks and beaches.
69 people were raped at abandoned buildings.
Mpumalanga is the only province to report a decrease in rape incidents.
Inanda police station in KwaZulu-Natal, Mthatha in the Eastern Cape and Delft in the Western Cape are the three top stations with the highest rape cases.
Buses, taxis, trains and other modes of public transport, were the third most likely places of occurrence for rape incidents.
Women and children
Fellow citizens,
The crime statistics again show that we as communities continue to fail to protect some of the most vulnerable in society; our children.
Last month, the kidnapping, rape and brutal murder of four-year-old Bokgabo Poo shocked the nation and the world.
A four year old with so much to live for and look forward to, her life cut short by a man who has since been arrested.
Shockingly, in just six months, 558 children were killed in South Africa from April to the end of September 2022.
Police are investigating attempted murder dockets of 294 children from July to September 2022.
1 895 Assault GBH cases, with children as victims, were opened with the police during this reporting period.
It is on this note that the SAPS continues to prioritize Gender-Based Violence (GBV) related crimes.
FCS cases
Between July and September this year, the FCS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit arrested 4 375 perpetrators of crimes committed against women and children.
Police traced and arrested 410 rapists during this reporting period. 68 of them have been sentenced to life behind bars.
Members of the media,
It is very encouraging that the Criminal Justice System continues to send a strong message of zero tolerance on rape, through the stiff sentences handed out to rapists.
Allow me to touch on just a few of these sentences.
Six life sentences were handed down to Lebohang Nyoka in the Northern Cape for rape, housebreaking and theft.
For the rape of two minors aged 10, the courts sentenced Ernest Mckein to life in prison in the Western Cape.
In Gauteng, a 32-year old Diepsloot serial rapist, was found guilty and sentenced to 16 life sentences, plus 250 years in prison for robbing and raping 16 women.
32-year old Asha Moyo stalked and attacked his victims, threatening them with a firearm, before raping them.
His youngest victim was 13 years old.
33 year old Pastor, Hlumelo Dywili was also sentenced to life in August, for the rape of a 33 year old congregant.
It is clear, the broader civil society, religious organizations and various community structures must sharply address the causes and preventative measures of crimes against women and children.
Such conversations combined with awareness programs and action by the SAPS, are important and do lead to prevention of these deeply disturbing gender based crimes.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As a Ministry, we remain extremely concerned about rapes at educational premises.
In the three months of reporting, 83 rapes occurred at educational facilities, including basic education schools and tertiary institutions.
One needs to take into cognizance that educational facilities refer to the scene of the crime and should not interpreted to imply that all perpetrators and or victims were pupils or students
DNA
The South African Police Service continues to take big steps towards ending the DNA backlog at our forensic service laboratories.
The prioritization project of court ready cases, where there are outstanding forensic reports, continues to gain momentum.
Teams from the SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) are working together with agility and have, to date, processed 17 410 court ready Gender Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) cases.
This is an increase of over five thousand cases, since the last crime statistics were released in August.
The DNA backlog at all SAPS laboratories currently stands well below the 70 thousand mark.
This number is decreasing with each day, due to the strong interventions in place at forensic service labs countrywide.
While new DNA specimens are coming in for analysis, the assurance has been made to this Ministry that the SAPS will meet its deadline of clearing the DNA backlog.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have truly come a long way since the DNA backlog was first discovered at our forensic service laboratories in May 2021.
Daily work and interventions continue, to ensure the SAPS never goes back to the dark days, where the DNA backlog reached levels of over 200 thousand cases.
ALL hands are on deck to capacitate and empower the forensic service laboratories to deliver a quality service for ALL South Africans.
Assault
The crime figures show that aggression and violence are at worrying levels in South Africa.
Violence meted not only against women and children; but violence playing out in our homes on our roads, and even inside public safe spaces such as churches and schools, is staggering.
The July to September months saw a record number of assault cases reported to the police in five years.
The SAPS across the country investigated a total of 85 640 assault GBH and common assault cases in the three months of reporting.
Arguments, road rage, provocation and misunderstandings as well as retaliation, revenge and punishment, remain the top motives for assaults GBH.
12 203 assault GBH cases took place behind closed doors; either at the home of the victim or the home of the perpetrator.
The second most likely place of occurrence for assault GBH was at public places such as street, open field, recreational center or abandoned building.
6 662 assault GBH cases were Domestic Violence-related.
This means the perpetrator and victim had some type of a domestic relationship.
Murder
7 004 people were killed by other persons in South Africa in the second quarter of 2022/2023 financial year.
This is an increase of 841 more people murdered, compared to the same period in 2021, when the country was placed under COVID-19 Lockdown four, three and two.
Arguments, misunderstandings and incidents of road rage and provocations accounted for 956 murders in the country.
Vigilantism incidents claimed the lives of 528 people while 362 people were killed during the commission of a robbery.
Inanda, uMlazi, police stations in KwaZulu-Natal and Nyanga station in the Western Cape registered the highest counts of murder during this period.
A total of 274 counts of murder were reported in those three areas combined.
Police killings
Fighting crime has also come at a cost for members of the SAPS across the country.
22 police officers were killed during July to September 2022, this is two members less compared to the same reporting period last year.
It is on this note that this Ministry will never stop calling on SAPS members to defend themselves at ALL times from ruthless criminals whenever they are under attack.
It is quite simple; Police must meet fire with fire!
Firearms remain the weapon of choice in most of the reported murders, 2 808 people were shot and killed.
961 of the reported murders in KwaZulu-Natal were as a result of firearms followed by Gauteng with 768 murders.
526 people died from gunshot wounds in the Western Cape.
Multiple murders
The high murder figure can also be attributed to multiple murders where two or more people were killed in one incident.
The SAPS is investigating 250 dockets of multiple murders, with 578 victims.
This included the mass shooting at the Mdlalose tavern in Soweto, where 17 people were killed in July in a single shooting incident.
Police have since arrested five suspects for their role in that shooting.
The KwaZulu-Natal province recorded the highest number of multiple murders, followed by Gauteng and the Western Cape.
Equally, the police in the three provinces, continue to make arrests and bring the gunmen and their handlers to book.
Police operational responses nationwide, should continue to remove guns that are in the wrong hands.
Trio crimes
Increases have been noted in crimes under sub category aggravated robbery.
The month of July 2022, saw the majority of carjacking, robbery at residential and non-residential premises cases reported to the police.
Commissioners,
More must be done to prevent and also respond to these crimes that are often carried out publicly in a violent manner.
Over 6 000 carjacking were reported to the police from July to September 2022.
While the Free State and Limpopo recorded decreases in carjackings, a 24% increase was observed nationally.
A total of 356 vehicles were reported hijacked in Nyanga, Harare and Phillipe East combined, all in the Western Cape.
Kidnappings have doubled nationally with over 4 000 counts reported to the police between July and September 2022.
Carjacking, robbery and rape were the top three motives for the recorded kidnapping during July to September across the country.
Commissioner,
The SAPS especially in the Western Cape has had several breakthroughs in kidnapping cases, where victims have been safely reunited with their families.
However, the police, will be neglecting the constitutional mandate of protecting the inhabitants of the country and their property, if the service doesn’t deal decisively with these most feared crimes.
Specialized intervention in provinces right down to station level, must be bolstered to deal with carjacking, kidnapping cases and other crimes in the Trio Crimes category.
Policing interventions should continue to be prioritized in identified hot spot areas to squeeze the opportunity for criminals.
Protests
Over and above the limited policing resources and personnel shortage, the SAPS has attended to 2 455 public protests from July to September 2022.
These were both peaceful and volatile demonstrations that mostly occurred in Gauteng with 563 protests, although 123 of those were peaceful protests.
In closing,
While the overview of these crime statistics may be disheartening at face value, they should not make us lose confidence in our endeavor to fight crime.
The rule of law must stand firm in South Africa.
The quarterly crime figures are a management tool to guide the SAPS and streamline policing operations, by shifting resources to where they are needed most.
It is clear that the SAPS will and MUST continue to sharpen its responses to crime, including arresting some members of the SAPS who choose to work against the law.
Organized crime is also being dealt a blow as the SAPS together with local Interpol’s National Centre Bureau trace and arrest wanted fugitives residing within our boarders.
Vigilantism
Fellow Citizens,
The Police ministry has learnt with dismay of the vigilante acts allegedly by some Attridgeville residents, who fatally assaulted and killed a man inside an ambulance.
Such cowardice acts absolutely have no place in our society.
We concede that the country’s criminal justice system is far from perfect, but it is functional and should be trusted.
We encourage communities to report crime and not take the law into their own hands.
Equally, Police are also urged to improve the quality of service they provide to communities, or ship out.
Lastly,
As the country heads towards the festive season, criminals tend to be brazen as they try to undermine the rule of law.
But this ministry is satisfied with the provincial Safer festive season operational plans of the SAPS, to safeguard the festive season.
The inclusion of 10 000 more boots to the service in December will intensify police visibility during the festive season and beyond.
More boots will be on the ground and escalated crime prevention and crime- combating operations will be a daily occurrence until the end of January 2023.
Nothing will replace fighting crime, than warm bodies.
Commissioner,
Police have their work cut out for them.
Communities, young and old also have a role to play towards lowering the crime rate in the country.
We encourage active participation against the common enemy of crime through formal involvement such as Community Policing forums (CPF) or other structures that enhance the policing footprint.
Mphakathi, Don’t look away, let us act against crime together;
“IPHOYISA IPHOYISA NGOMPHAKATHI”
With these opening remarks, let me hand over to Major General Thulare Sekhukhune to give a detailed presentation of the 2nd quarter crime statistics of 2022/2023 financial year.
Source: Government of South Africa