Durban - While residents are reeling from the latest crime figures, it has not been all doom and gloom. On Tuesday, the figures were presented in Parliament - which showed a spike in murder, however there were also some noted decreases in various crime categories.
Compared to last year's figures, there has been a 31% decrease in business robberies - from 20 680 in 2016/2017 to 20 047 recorded in 2017/2018.
Carjackings have also decreased by 2.3% from 16 717 in 2016/2017 to 16 352 in 2017/2018. The crime stats also noted a decrease in home robberies from 22 343 in 2016/2017 to 22 261 in 2017/2018.
Police Minister, Bheki Cele, also noted a decrease in in contact crime, contact related crimes, property-related crime, other serious crime including arson, malicious damage to property, theft of motor vehicles and theft out of motor vehicles.
Cele said a comparison of the past two financial years showed a decrease in theft, commercial crime and shoplifting.
"In terms of the second broad category, Crime Detected as a Result of Police Action are crimes usually not reported to the police but detected as a result of the deployment of law enforcement personnel and the employment of intelligence. The crime is usually recorded after the apprehension of suspects in connection with the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, drug-related crimes, driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs and sexual offences detected as a result of police action. It should be noted, that an increase in theses sub-categories is directly linked with police action," he said.
Cele added that a comparison of the past two financial years, 2016/2017 and 2017/2018, in terms of Crimes Detected as a Result of Police Action revealed the following:
• Illegal possession of firearms and ammunition increased by 8.8%
• Drug-related crime increased by 10.5%
• Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs increased by 14.8%
• Sexual offences detected as a result of police action increased by 8.7%