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Gauteng recorded 1,935 kidnappings between July and September. Picture: 123RF/rafaelbenari
Gauteng recorded 1,935 kidnappings between July and September. Picture: 123RF/rafaelbenari

Kidnapping is on the rise in SA with almost 4,000 cases reported in the three months to end-September, most of them in Gauteng.

Presenting the latest quarterly crime statistics police Maj-Gen Thulare Sekhukhune said 3,649 kidnappings were reported nationwide, with Gauteng accounting for with 1,935 cases

The majority of such incidents were the result of hijackings, followed by robbery and rape-related incidents, Sekhukhune said. 

Other contributors were domestic incidents involving children being taken from parents or guardians, extortion, ransom, retaliation, revenge, human trafficking and mob justice. 

Reported murders rose to 7,004 in the three-month period, an increase of  841 compared with the same period a year earlier, “when the country was placed under Covid-19 lockdown levels 4, 3 and 2”, police minister Bheki Cele said.

“Arguments, misunderstandings, incidents of road rage and provocations accounted for 956 murders,” he said. 

KwaZulu-Natal reported the highest number of cases, followed by the Western Cape and Gauteng. Incidents of vigilantism accounted for 528 deaths, while 362 people were killed during robberies.

Most murders were reported to the Inanda and Umlazi police stations in KwaZulu-Natal and Nyanga in the Western Cape, which recorded a combined 274 cases, Cele said.

Most incidents involved the use of firearms. “A total of 2,808 people were shot and killed and 961 of the reported murders in KwaZulu-Natal were as a result of firearms, followed by Gauteng with 768. A total of 526 people died from gunshot wounds in the Western Cape,” Cele said. 

The number of police officers killed while on duty declined slightly to 22.  “It is on this note that this ministry will never stop calling on police members to defend themselves at all times from ruthless criminals whenever they are under attack. It is quite simple: police must meet fire with fire,” Cele said.

“Police are investigating 250 dockets of multiple murders involving 578 victims. This included the mass shooting at Mdlalose tavern in Soweto in July,” Cele said. Five suspects have since been arrested, he said.

Violence against women and children continued unabated in the review period, with 558 cases of child murder and 989 of women reported.

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