As national Police Minister Bheki Cele delivered the second quarter crime statistics yesterday, a Limpopo family visiting Durban were determined they were not going to let crime ruin their holiday.
Rowena Viljoen, 36, with six other family members, arrived in uMhlanga last weekend for a week's holiday after a long trip down from the north in the family's minibus.
On Wednesday their holiday activities jarred to a halt when their vehicle was stolen soon after they left an uMhlanga shopping mall.
Viljoen, her mother and sister had parked the minibus in uMhlanga before going to a bridal shop to look for a dress for her wedding next year.
"We had been shopping at the mall and as we were leaving there, I was reversing and heard the sound of broken glass. I stopped and got out to find broken beer bottles under the tyres of our bus," said Viljoen, adding that she spoke to mall security to alert them to the broken glass before leaving.
"We parked near the bridal shop at about 1.30pm and were there for about an hour. When we came back out, our bus was gone," she said.
Viljoen spotted a security camera close to where they had parked the vehicle, which subsequently showed the minibus, bearing company branding, Warriors Academy, being stolen just after 2pm.
"At the scene everyone was so kind to us, getting coffee and contacting the police who arrived about an hour-and-a-half later. It seems they were having a busy day with crime," she said.
The family had a lot of surf-kiting gear in the vehicle, as well as holiday shopping.
"We had done a cool curry cooking course and had bought a lot of spices to take home.
"We were supposed to go to uShaka, cycle on the promenade and go to a show at the Rhumbelow Theatre, so we couldn't do any of that, but we will be back next year.
"We always look forward to coming down to the coast and we are not going to let this ruin our holiday," she said.
The Viljoen family will leave Durban on Saturday to travel back to Limpopo in another vehicle.
Meanwhile during the crime stats media briefing yesterday, Cele said there had been a “diminishing decrease” in crime figures as lockdown levels eased for the second quarter period from July 1 to September 30.
The country experienced a massive drop in crime during lockdown, but it has steadily increased as restrictions eased and criminals were back in action.
A total of 5107 people were murdered in South Africa during this period.
Arguments and misunderstandings sometimes involving road rage and provocation, caused far more reported murders in KZN than any other province between July and September. This excluded domestic violence cases.
The 249 in KZN was followed by 143 in Gauteng. There were only two such murders in Limpopo.
KZN also led in murders connected to vigilantism and mob justice at 68, followed by 43 in Gauteng. Limpopo had zero.
KZN topped the list of murders as a result of robberies - 90 in all - followed by Gauteng with 76. The Northern Cape had just one.
Eight more people were reported murdered in taxi-related incidents in the Western Cape than in KZN, where there were 25.
Of the 984 rapes that happened in KZN, 710 were in homes and 215 in public places, while the balance occurred in places such as business premises, educational facilities, at hotels, at taxi ranks and on transport.
Countrywide, liquor outlets were the scenes of 72 murders, 46 attempted murders, 14 rapes and 966 assaults with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Cele said that criminal scramble to catch up on profits was particularly noticeable with the increase in cash-in-transit cases.
"Criminals are trying to make up for the time lost during the 'crime holiday' experienced in the first quarter of the financial year," he said.
"It is clear armed gangs targeting cash vans are becoming more desperate and ruthless as the year comes to a close. These criminals are stopping at nothing to carry out their criminal acts, often doing so in public spaces near innocent bystanders."
He said five cash-in-transit robbers were recently killed during a shoot-out with police at a safe house in Ekurhuleni.
In KZN, 1813 vehicles, including motorcycles, were stolen and there were 2891 instances of goods being stolen from vehicles. This was 181 and 800 fewer than from July to September last year, respectively.
Gauteng put KZN in the shade on that front, with 5298 reported vehicle thefts and 6379 instances of theft from motor vehicles.
The Western Cape had 1295 vehicle thefts, and thefts out of motor vehicles tallied 6365.
But the DA and IFP said despite the decline compared to last year, the numbers were still high.
DA MP Okkie Terblanche said the police still needed to do more, adding they needed to pull up their socks because the numbers were still high.
Terblanche said they had a presentation from the police this week in the portfolio committee where they briefed MPs on the backlog in the DNA cases.
He said DNA evidence was crucial in court and if there was a backlog it impacts on criminal cases before the courts.
IFP MP Zandile Majozi also said despite the decline in these crimes, the numbers were still high.
“We welcome the report by the Minister, but it does not take away the fears of South Africans in the murders and the brutality of the killing of women and children,” said Majozi.
She said the numbers may have been reduced, but they want a zero tolerance on these crimes.
She said the police need to do a proper job when collecting evidence at the crime scene, adding that the nature of violent crime in South Africa left many questions than answers.
“We need to find out what is wrong, why are people killing each other and there is so much gender-based violence,” said Majozi.
The Independent on Saturday