Murder cases spike at Akasia police station

The number of murders at the Akasia police station rose by more than 50% from October to December of last year compared to the same period in the previous year.

This was according to third quarter crime statistics which were released last week.

A more than 50% increase in the number of murders was recorded in the period between October and December 2020 compared to the same period in the previous year, the statistics which were released last week revealed.

According to the statistics, a whopping 11 more cases were recorded during the said period.

A total of 15 murders were recorded during the October to December 2020 period compared to only four murders which were recorded between October and December 2019.

Another police station that recorded an increase in the number of murders was the Pretoria North police station.

According to the crime statistics, only two cases were recorded in the period from October to December 2020.

This was only one more case compared to the same period in the previous year.

Meanwhile, the Kameeldrift and Sinoville police stations recorded 0% in the number of murder cases recorded between October to December 2019 and 2020.

Kameeldrift police station once again recorded one murder case while Sinoville police station also once again recorded only two cases.

During his release of the national crime statistics for the third quarter, police minister Bheki Cele said an overall 6,6% increase in the number of murders was recorded in the three months of reporting.

“This means 389 more people were killed compared to the corresponding period in the previous financial year,” he said.

Mpumalanga had recorded the highest increase in the number of murders compared to the same period in the previous year, he added.

A decrease in the number of murders that occurred was said to have been recorded in the Limpopo, North West and Northern Cape provinces.

Cele further stated that of the total number of murders that were recorded, a total of 193 of them were allegedly a result of domestic violence.

“The top four causative factors of these deaths are arguments, robberies at a household and businesses, mob justice incidents and gang-related killings,” he said.

He added that a whopping total of 2 481 people were killed in public places – in the street, open field, parking areas and abandoned buildings.

A total of 1 643 murders were also said to have occurred either at the home of the victim or perpetrator while liquor outlets were reportedly the third most likely place to be killed in the country.

Another crime which saw an overall increase at all of the police stations in the north of Pretoria, except Kameeldrift, was rape.

According to the statistics, three more rape cases were recorded at the Akasia police station between October and December 2020 compared to 32 during the same period in the previous year.

Two more rape cases were recorded at both the Pretoria North and Sinoville police stations during the said reporting period compared to the 12 and four cases which the stations recorded respectively.

While announcing the latest statistics, Cele said a 5% increase had been recorded in sexual offences which were detected as a result of police action.

“Some 12 218 people were raped between October and December last year,” he said, adding it was an increase of 181 cases.

The said increase in the number of cases which were recorded was said to amount to 1,5% increase compared to the previous year.

Of those incidents which were recorded, at least 4 900 reportedly took place either at the home of the victim or rapist.

“Of those 570 were domestic violence related and 547 of rape cases in this category involved female victims and 23 were males,” Cele said.

With regard to farm attacks, he said a total of 19 people were killed in 18 incidents of murder which were said to have occurred in farms and small holdings.

“While most people died in the hands of criminals, unfortunately, some of those were killed by farm owners or farm managers,” Cele said.

A crime category that the minister acknowledged they were struggling to tackle was cash-in-transit (CIT) robberies.

“It is clear the SAPS must change its responses to robberies. The current plan in place now is not working,” he said.

A total of 26 more attacks on cash vans were said to have been recorded during the third quarter of the 2020/2021 financial year.

“If we are to win against these thugs, the SAPS must go back to the drawing board and work with speed,” Cele said, adding that they would soon meet with the CEOs in the CIT industry on the matter.

The Pretoria North police station was the only one to record an unchanged number of robbery of cash-in-transit.

The station recorded only one incident in both the October to December 2019 and 2020 period.

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