Murder cases in SA jump by 11.5%, crime stats show

Murder cases in SA increased by 11.5% during the first quarter of the 2022/2023 financial year, police minister Bheki Cele said on Friday.

Presenting the quarterly crime statistics, Cele said 6,424 people were killed in the first quarter, an increase of 664 compared with the same period last year when the country was in lockdown levels one and two.

The main causes of murder were arguments and misunderstandings, retaliations and revenge, and vigilantism.

Cele said the stations that reported the highest murder rates were Umlazi in Durban and Plessislaer in Pietermaritzburg, in KwaZulu-Natal, and Mthatha in the Eastern Cape.

Firearms are three times more likely to be the weapon of choice in all the reported murders, with 2,766 people shot dead.

Police are also seeing a large number of multiple murders — where one person is responsible for more than one death — with 284 dockets opened for 664 victims.

KwaZulu-Natal had the highest recorded multiple murders, said Cele, followed by Gauteng and the Eastern Cape.

In three months, 1,098 women and children were killed in SA. Women and children made up 18% of the 6,424 murders with 13% being women.

More than 11,000 assault GBH cases with female victims were opened with the police during this time. Of those, 1,670 cases involved children.

Police are investigating the attempted murder of more than 1,400 women and children.

Despite the thousands of rapes reported, Cele said only 286 convictions were secured. 

Contact crimes decreased, with 2,205 fewer cases reported in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period last year, he added..

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