Durban - Murders, house robberies and hijackings in KwaZulu-Natal all increased in the period from April to June this year compared with the same period last year.
This is according to the crime stats for the first quarter that were released by Police Minister Bheki Cele on Friday.
Some decreases were registered for sexual offences, rape and business robberies, compared with the same period in 2021. Alarmingly, a total of 1 623 murders took place in the first quarter, compared with 1 404 last year. Nationally, 6 424 people were killed.
Cele said the main causes for murders remained arguments and misunderstandings.
“Retaliations and revenge murders were the second most common motive for murder, and vigilantism was the third most likely cause of murder in South Africa.”
In KZN, there was also an 11.3% increase in car-jackings and a 6.7% rise in house robberies.
Gareth Newham, the head of the Justice and Violence Prevention Programme at the Institute for Security Studies, said effective crime reduction required a detailed analysis of the victims, perpetrators, locations and modus operandi of the crime problem that needed to be tackled.
“It’s surprising that despite a decade of increases in murder, armed robbery and organised crime, we don’t have clear, evidence-based strategies to reduce these. This means using the resources of the SAPS and appropriate partners in a focused and deliberate manner.
“What is always missing from the information released in what the police are doing is the detection rate. This is the proportion of case dockets that have been closed because perpetrators have been identified and arrested or because an investigation has revealed that no crime actually took place. Since 2012, the detection rate for murder has dropped by 50%, and for armed robbery by 30%. This means that the vast majority of perpetrators of murder and robbery get away with their crimes.”
Newham added that it must also be borne in mind that any reduction in overall contact crime or sexual offences may be due to reductions in victims reporting the cases to the SAPS.
“This is because only 27% of the population trusts the police, according to the South Africa Social Attitude Survey conducted by the HSRC. Policing cannot be effective without public support. We need to see clear plans for improving the police.”
Mary de Haas, a KZN violence monitor, said that year-on year comparisons provided little meaningful data to establish trends as this required the observation of data over a number of years.
However, De Haas added that there were serious policing problems.
“There is an urgent need to upgrade detective services training and completely overhaul crime intelligence. There also needs to be specialised firearms units, with staff with proven competence.”
She added that other issues included the chain of evidence being compromised by delays in ballistics tests, as well as DNA results linked to delays that needed to be scrutinised by the auditor-general.
Sharon Hoosen, the DA’s KZN spokesperson on Community Safety and Liaison, said that according to the statistics, the province remained the worst in the country when it came to murder, with a 15.6% increase in this category.
Three of the country’s worst five police stations for murder – uMlazi, Inanda and Plessislaer – are also in KZN, with all three experiencing an increase in murder compared with the same period last year. She added that Durban Central was listed as the fourth most dangerous place countrywide, with a staggering increase of 23.3% for contact crimes.
“It is against this backdrop that the people of our province are fast becoming desensitised to ever-increasing crime levels as they face a never-ending onslaught of violence.”
Zandile Majozi, the IFP’s spokesperson on police, said the party was deeply disturbed and concerned by the latest crime statistics; in particular, by the increase in murders.
“In relation to the alleged drop in reported rape cases; we view this statistic with caution. It is encouraging to see that there was a decrease in reported rape cases. However, we are cognisant of the fact that overall, South Africa is still a dangerous country for women and the reported rape statistics are still incredibly high. As the IFP, we are deeply concerned by the reported increase in murders – 6 424 people were murdered during the first quarter of this year, which is an increase of 664 people.”
Regarding the stats in uMlazi, Cele commented that the police recently met with residents, business owners and members of the religious fraternity about the issues in the township.
“During this engagement, the improvement of police response times and shortage of vehicles and how environmental design impeded policing was raised and is being urgently addressed at national, provincial and local government level.
“The multi-stakeholder approach and working closely with the community in the uMlazi policing area should have an impact on violent crime if sustained and maintained,” Cele said.