One noticeable increase in the Sandton policing precinct was a drastic spike in sexual crimes. An increase of 52 reported cases saw a total of 115 cases for the period April 2012 to March 2013.
Other noteworthy increases included assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm which had increased by 29 reported cases, robbery with aggravating circumstances which had increased by 109, burglary at residential premises had spiked to 120 and 194 cases of theft out of or from a motor vehicle had been reported. Hijacking had increased by seven to 76 cases, while truck-jacking was up by five to eight reported cases. Importantly murder was down from nine reported cases in the April 2011 to March 2012 year, to only four in the last year, and attempted murder was down from 24 to 16.
Malicious damage to property was down by 100 reported cases to 276, while burglary at non-residential property showed a decrease by 37 cases to 203. Illegal possession of firearms and ammunition was down by six and drug-related crimes have decreased by 19 to 93.
Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs was down substantially from 613 to 373.
Police minister Nathi Mthethwa said South Africa’s overall crime rate continued to decline. He said there were 896 298 serious crime arrests in 2012/13 compared to 777 140 during the 2011/12 reporting period.
