This is according to the crime statistics that were released last week by the minister of police, Bheki Cele for the first three months of the year. Ritavi (Nkowankowa) had a 250% increase in murders and Maake an increase of 116.7%. In contrast, Letsitele reported a 100% decline in murder cases as no murders were reported during this period. Tzaneen further documented a 200% rise in sexual assault cases while Ritavi also reported a 40.9% increase in sexual assaults.

Based on the statistics, Ritavi seems to be the most violent area when compared to Tzaneen, Maake, and Letsitele. However, it is not all doom and gloom as crimes that have declined are stock theft and carjacking by 80%. Cele also referred to the increase in violent crimes during the presentation of the statistics.

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“1 107 more people were killed in South Africa between January and March compared to the same period in 2021. This has resulted in a  22.2% increase in murder. “Out of the 6 083 people killed in the country, 898 of them were women and 306 were children under the age of 17. “Alarmingly, the murder of children recorded a 37.2% increase in the period of reporting,” he said.

Cele blamed arguments, vigilantism, revenge or retaliation, and robberies as the top four causative factors of murder. “The triple challenges of poverty, inequality, and unemployment increasingly encourage opportunistic criminal behavior. “All in all these statistics don’t give us a good picture,” he added. He concluded by encouraging police officials to take pride in their work and urged citizens to work hand in hand with the police to eliminate crime.

Brig Charles Masinamela, station commander of the Tzaneen Police Station told the Herald that the crime statistics are bad. “But as the police in Tzaneen, we promise to work hard to arrest the criminals and to keep our people safe. Although the crime has increased when compared to last year, the good thing is we are making arrests,” he concluded.