By Celean Jacobson
South Africans are killing relatives and acquaintances at an alarming rate, police said, acknowledging traditional methods for battling crime could do little to stem the tide.
According to annually released crime statistics Wednesday, police have failed to achieve a targeted decrease of seven to 10 percent in the numbers of murders and rapes over the year.
South Africa, where nearly 50 people are killed each day, has one of the highest murder and rape rates in the world - and an international reputation as a violent society.
The high crime rate has dominated newspaper headlines Murders decreased by two percent but still totalled 18 528. Rape also declined slightly by 1 percent, but the total number reported was a staggering 54 926.
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Cash-in-transit heists, largely the work of sophisticated syndicates, showed the largest increase, up 74,1 percent from 220 to 383 and car hijackings increased 3,1 percent during the year.
According to the new report, 81,5 percent of the murder victims knew their attacker and 61,9 percent were either related to or knew the killer very well. The report said 76 percent of rape victims knew their attacker.
"These crimes are committed behind closed doors, in secluded spots," said Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula.
The high crime rate has dominated newspaper headlines and sparked soul-searching among South Africans. A day before the statistics were released, Archbishop Desmond Tutu raised concern about an increasing sense of lawlessness in South Africa.
The government is desperate to counter the country's violent image
"What has happened to us? It seems as if we have perverted our freedom, our rights into license, into being irresponsible. Rights go hand in hand with responsibility, with dignity, with respect for oneself and the other," Tutu said in his Steve Biko Memorial Lecture at the University of Cape Town on Tuesday night.
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