This is according to the new crime statistics which was released last week by the police. The local police station recorded four rapes, an increase of three cases in the applicable three months when compared to the previous year. Drug-related crimes increased by 37.5%, from eight to eleven cases. Another crime which also increased is burglary at non-residential premises. It increased by 80.0% from five to nine incidences in 2020/2021. Only one murder case has been reported.

No reports of carjacking were made and no record of robbery at residential premises were documented in this period. A total of 6 859 murders were recorded nationwide, 562 more culminating to an 8.9% increase. The country documented 5 455 cases of carjacking, an increase of 13.8% from the 4794 in 2020/2021 period. Majority of the murders and attempted murders are committed in public areas such as parks, open fields and on the street.

Also read: Hoedspruit crime stats shock

But not all is gloom as countrywide statistics of sexual offenses have declined by 9% from 15 595 to 14 188 cases. 903 less rape cases were opened in the past year, resulting in a 7.4% decline from 12 218 in 2020/2021 to 11 315 in the 2021/2022. Inanda Police Station in KwaZulu-Natal has reported the highest number of murders nationwide with 86 cases. “These statistics are not necessarily a win for the SAPS, but they are certainly an improvement.

“The last three months of 2021 were not a “free for all” for criminals. “It is through the acceleration of policing and improving our working relationships with communities, through community-based structures such as community policing forums (CPF) and other NGOs that the crime picture can be improved,” minister of police, Bheki Cele, concluded during the announcement of the crime statistics last week Friday.