LIVE: Police Minister Bheki Cele releases 2019/20 crime stats

Johannesburg - Police Minister Bheki Cele will this morning release the 2019/20 annual crime statistics.

The statistics will be for crimes registered in the period of April 1 2019 to the end of March 2020.

The Police Ministry and the South African Police Service said Cele would be joined by deputy police minister Cassel Mathale, national police commissioner General Khehla John Sithole, police senior management, as well as the nine provincial safety and security MECs from around the country.

WATCH THE LIVE FEED HERE:

MURDER

In last year’s crime statistics, 21 022 murders took place at an average of 58 per day.

By province, Gauteng had the most murders – with 4 495 murders, or a murder rate of 30.5 per 100 000 people.

But, the Eastern Cape’s 3 965 murders had the highest murder rate in the country, with a murder rate of 60.9 per 100 000 people.

In terms of attempted murder, there were 18 980 cases last year, an increase of 747 cases from the previous year.

Cape Town’s Nyanga township had the most murders of any area last year. The other areas with the most murders in the country last year were Delft and Khayelitsha.

A total of 289 murder cases were reported in Nyanga, 247 in Delft and 221 in Khayelitsha 221.

RAPE

In terms of the rape capital, the police station with the most cases reported was the Inanda Police Station to the north of Durban.

South Africa had a total of 41 583 rapes reported last year.

The Top 5 areas for rape in the country last year were Inanda, Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape, Thohoyandou in Limpopo, Umlazi in KwaZulu-Natal and Delft in the Western Cape.

The crime statistics last year also showed that women aged 20-29 were most likely to be raped in South Africa.

The statistics showed that more than 33 125 women were victims of rape during the 2018/19 financial year, along with 3 573 male victims who opened rape cases in the same period.

There were a total of 41 583 cases of rape opened in the 2018/19 financial year, the police said.

The Gauteng province recorded the highest rape incidences in the country in the past financial year, with 8 417 cases of the country’s reported 41 583 incidences.

FEMICIDE

Last year’s crime statistics showed that seven women were killed in South Africa every day.

There were 2771 women who were murdered in 2018/19, translating to seven women being killed every day in South Africa.

IOL