Durban - With the most murders and the most rapes, the latest quarterly crime statistics release by Police MInister Bheki Cele on Friday, portray KwaZulu-Natal as a gruesome epicentre of violence.
Murder increased nationally by a staggering 11% between April and June this year with 6 424 South Africans killed compared with 5 760 in the same period last year.
KZN recorded the highest number of murders with 1 623 – a 15.5% increase.
Even more staggering was the increase in murders to women and children – 855 women were killed a 53.2% increase, while 243 children were murdered, a 46.4% hike.
When it comes to assault GBH, the figures are as terrifying – a 54.7% increase in attacks on women, and 58.4% on children.
Attempted murder too was up 8.4% with 431 more cases for a total 5 576. Robbery with aggravating circumstances also increased 4% with 1 357 more incidents for a total of 35 233.
Despite the bad news on the murder stats most other form of contact crimes decreased.
Sexual offences showed a 6.7% decrease, while rape was down by 4.9% with 490 fewer cases. However, 9 516 women were raped in the three month period.
South Africa’s murder figures have shown steady increases over the past five years despite a dip during the hard lockdown of April and May 2020.
In terms of cases per 100 000 population, 2018 showed 8 people killed, in 2019 it was 9, it dipped to 6 in 2020, in 2021 it rose to 10 and this year it’s now 11.
Despite KZN having the highest number of murders, it is second to the Eastern Cape regarding murders per 100 000 population, although KZN is showing the steepest rise in figures of any province.
The Eastern Cape recorded a staggering figure of 18 people killed per 100 000 population, KZN 14 and the Western Cape 13.8.
Gauteng by comparison is a distant fourth with 9.3, despite recording 1 490 murders, and it’s below the national average.
Five years ago KZN’s figure was 8.7. Only one province had fewer murders this year than in 2018 – The Western Cape which dropped from 13.9, then the worst offender, to 13.8, now third.
Five KZN policing precincts stand out among the country’s worst 10 for murders – Umlazi, Plessislaer, Inanda, Kwadebeka and KwaMashu E. Those stations alone recorded 320 cases, almost a fifth of the province’s total.
The province also had the highest number of murders committed during robberies with 114, almost a third of the national total.
It also had the most number of multiple murders with 84 dockets representing 205 victims, including six people shot dead when unknown gunmen stormed a homestead in Nqutu during a cleansing ceremony.
Despite a national decrease of 4.9% in rape cases, KZN only registered a 0.3% decrease with 1953 cases, the highest of any province. Gauteng registered 1909 cases, a decrease of 6.4%.
In his speech, Cele said of the 9 516 rape cases, 3 780, more than a third, took place in the homes of the rapist or the victim. 1 546 people were raped in public places such as streets, parks and beaches.
Public transportation such as buses, taxis and trains are third most likely places of occurrence for rape cases.
Cele said the SAPS would continue to prioritise gender-based violence related crimes.
Between April and June this year, 286 rapists were convicted and 46 of these sentenced to life behind bars.
Regarding serial rapists, 16 offenders involved in 65 sexual offence cases were convicted and were serving a total of 20 life and 886 years imprisonment.
In addition 67 people were raped at educational facilities, including 53 at schools and one at a crèche.
In addition, Cele said that more than 10% of all murder and rape cases were directly attributed to alcohol, which involved 747 murders, 232 attempted murders, 1 212 rapes and 4 044 cases of assault GBH.
Of these, 227 murders, 257 attempted murders, 39 rapes and 2 705 cases of assault GBH occurred on premises selling alcohol, whether pub, nightclub, shebeen or tavern etc.
The DA’s police spokesman Andrew Whitfield said the party was horrified by the statistics.
“They prove that South Africa has become a gruesome war zone for women and children who are raped, murdered and maimed on a daily basis.
“Every time a woman or a child is violently attacked we lose a part of our soul as a nation,” he said.
“The shocking increases in violent crimes against women and children and the unacceptably low conviction rate highlights the crisis we are facing under the leadership of Police Minister Bheki Cele,” he said.
KZN is also the worst province for domestic violence, with 44 people killed and 153 raped in incidences of domestic violence, out of a national total of 201 and 673 respectively.
Another contact crime that sky-rocketed is kidnapping.
Nationally there were 3 550 cases, a 59.1% increase, of which Gauteng accounted for 1 909 a 136% increase, and KZN 606, an 8.6% increase.
Regarding Assault GBH, KZN was second in the table with 5 493 cases, a 12.2% decrease, behind Gauteng with 7 835 cases, a 10% decrease. Nationally figures were 7.7% down.
Common assault was down 4.7% and common robbery up 0.6% despite a national decrease of 1.3%.
Robbery with aggravating circumstances saw a 1.6% decrease with 6 334 cases, despite the national figure being down 4%.
KZN saw an 11.3% increase in car-jacking with 913 cases, the vast bulk of this crime affecting Gauteng with 3113 cases, a 15.1% increase.
Truck hijacking remained the same with 19 cases.
Vehicle theft was down 1.5% with 1499 cases, in line with the national figure.
Robbery at residential premises increased 6.7% with 1 361 cases, the national average being 0.4%, while at business premises it was down 3.6% with 959 cases.
There were nine cash in transit robberies in the province, and no bank robberies.
KZN did however see a reduction of 11% in the number of cases involving the illegal possession of firearms for a total of 869, and a 14.5% reduction in drug cases with 5 242, about a third of the number in the Western Cape.
Regarding driving under the influence of alcohol it was the only province to record an increase, with 18.4% or 1 210 cases.
The province included the most number of cases of civil unrest, 180, and the second highest number after Gauteng of peaceful protests with 379.
The Independent on Saturday