Crime stats: ‘Season of discontent’ as Gauteng murder rates up 45.2%
The province has contributed 27.6% of murder cases to the national toll, with 1,403 people killed during the 2021/22 financial year
Murder rates in Gauteng have increased sharply.
“The honeymoon is over,” Gauteng police commissioner Lt-Gen Elias Mawela said when he presented the province’s fourth quarterly crime statistics for the 2021/22 financial year to the legislature’s portfolio committee on community safety on Tuesday morning. This covers crimes committed between January and March this year. He referred to the stats as a “season of discontent”.
Mawela said Gauteng contributed 27.6% of murder cases to the national toll.
Assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm, common assault and robbery with aggravating circumstances contributed 33% to overall crime in Gauteng.
“The social ills within our communities are the main root causes for assault incidents.
“Should the community adopt better acceptable means of conflict management and reduce substance abuse, surely some categories of crime, such as domestic violence, gender-based violence, murder and attempted murder, will be reduced?”
There was a 45.2% increase in murders in the province, or 1,403 people killed during this period. This is 437 more people murdered compared to the same period in 2020/2021.
Mawela said the analysis of murder cases has shown again that the “majority of causative factors are arguments, misunderstandings (not domestic-related), road rage and provocation”.
He said the number included five police officers, one killed while on duty and four who were murdered while off duty. He said another officer was killed on Monday, raising the number to six.
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