Police Minister Bheki Cele. (Photo: Jaco Marais) Police Minister Bheki Cele said the latest crime statistics painted a “bleak picture” as murder, rape and assault levels went up during the fourth quarter of 2020 from the beginning of October to the end of December.
These crimes occurred during Level 1 through to adjusted Level 3 of the extended lockdown.
Speaking at a media briefing on Friday, 19 February Cele said the statistics laid bare policing gaps, that SAPS needed to reflect and pull up its socks to deal with the problem. This was in stark contrast to the “crime holiday” he described in response to the unprecedented drop in crime levels between April and June 2020 during the hard lockdown.
Murder statistics rose by 6.6%, rape increased by 1.5% with overall sexual offences going up by 1.8%. Assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm rose by 1.4% while common assault increased by 0.6% compared to the same period in the previous financial year.
“From the side of the police I do concede that we will have to… put our house in order,” said Cele.
The top four motives for murder were: arguments, robberies at a household and businesses, mob justice and gang-related killings.
More than 12,200 rape cases were reported between October and December 2020 of which, close to 5,000 happened at the victim’s or the perpetrator’s home. Over 1,300 rape cases were linked to alcohol consumption, with a small number happening at shebeens. The alcohol ban was reinstated in late December, near the end of the reporting period for the statistics.
Cele conceded that SAPS continued to handle gender-based violence cases poorly.
“I received so many calls… to say police are not treating well the cases of rape and the cases of sexual abuse,” he said.
The minister briefly announced that a tool had been developed to monitor how gender-based violence cases are handled at the various stations. Police have been accused of subjecting victims to secondary victimisation where in some cases complainants are encouraged to go home to try and negotiate disputes with the perpetrator.
Inanda and Umlazi in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape’s Lusikisiki police stations recorded the highest incidents of rape. Inanda and Umlazi’s rape figures have remained high since the 2019/20 statistics were reported where Inanda was identified as South Africa’s “rape capital”.
Cele said between October and December, 129 life sentences were handed down in response to gender-based violence and femicide.
Regarding assault, Cele said many cases were aggravated by alcohol abuse, with more than 50,000 cases opened with police. In the case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, close to 6,000 cases were alcohol-related.
He raised concerns over Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and the Western Cape, which each recorded over 10% increases in murder.
“As the Police Ministry and police management, we have taken a decision to have operational oversight in the four provinces and monitor them closely,” said Cele. DM