Annual crime statistics in South Africa used to be released in September. At the time of their release, they were at least six months old and the crime situation would have changed. Until 1999, crime statistics were released every quarter until the spike in crime and problems with its recording, resulting in the then minister of police putting in place a moratorium prohibiting their regular release.

The moratorium also prohibited the police from releasing station-level or provincial crime statistics, as this function was centralised within the minister of police. Fortunately, Minister of Police Bheki Cele recently announced that the crime statistics would be released quarterly. In fact, this was a decision taken by the Cabinet in 2016, but never properly implemented. This move by Cele should be welcomed.

Over the past five months, the Covid-19 lockdown has highlighted the importance of providing timely statistics to enable evidence-based and targeted interventions. Statistics on Covid-19 infections, recoveries and deaths are provided daily to raise public awareness and mobilise society against the spread of infection.

A similar approach towards enhancing public responses to crime could be achieved by doing the same with the crime statistics. If there was ever a time we needed timely, updated crime statistics, it is now. In particular, in the context of the Covid-19 lockdown – which has dramatically impacted on our system of policing with new offences, the imposition of curfews and restricted access to police services – timely and accurate statistics are critical.

Several reports indicate that domestic violence and gender-based violence have increased dramatically, and hospital trauma units and victim support services are overburdened during the current lockdown. The provision of timely statistics will facilitate better planning and the co-ordination of targeted interventions by multi-stakeholders and non-government service providers, such as those providing victim support services. 

The media coverage of crime is often disproportionate and inconsistent. Sensational headlines and more graphic crimes are often used as front-page stories or headline news, which can alter the public’s perception about the actual crime situation. The frequent release of crime statistics could counter sensationalism and provide the public with a better insight into shifting crime trends and patterns.

Arguably, timely access to accurate crime statistics is a constitutional right. Section 32(1) of the Constitution states that everyone has the right of access to “any information held by the state” as well as “any information that is held by another person and that is required for the exercise or protection of any rights”. There are several other legal instruments which support the regular release of crime statistics.

Section 4 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) compels public institutions to provide accurate information to the minister or MEC on a monthly basis. This enables executive authorities to monitor performance and intervene when necessary and means that the minister of police receives monthly statistics from the SAPS, which can then be released. Importantly, there is no statute prohibiting the minister of police from releasing crime statistics received from the SAPS on a monthly basis. On the contrary, the PFMA supports good practices that strengthen public accountability and enable public scrutiny of public institutions.

In addition, Treasury regulations compel public institutions to establish procedures for quarterly reporting to the executive authority in order to facilitate effective performance monitoring, evaluation and corrective action. However, these regulations do not compel executive authorities to release such reports publicly. Nevertheless, such an approach could enhance public trust and accountability in public institutions.

The recent crime statistics for South Africa released by the minister of police show a very worrying trend, as most serious crime categories are on the increase. In fact, the crime categories for murder, aggravated assault, sexual offences, aggravated robberies and attempted murder have been on the increase for the past several years. 

Further, section 206(1) of the Constitution requires the minister of police to account to the Cabinet and Parliament on all matters relating to policing. Parliament, in particular, can enhance public accountability by requiring the minister of police to release crime statistics regularly to strengthen police accountability.

Internationally, there is no single practice regarding the release of national crime statistics. However, several countries release their crime statistics regularly and this is done by independent statutory bodies outside the national police service. In Canada, crime statistics are not released by the minister of police, but by an independent statutory body, Statistics Canada. This ensures that there is no political pressure or interference that may affect the reliability of crime statistics. Similarly, the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency is a statutory body tasked with collecting and releasing crime statistics. In Australia, national crime statistics are collected and released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

In the US, different police agencies collect and release crime statistics differently from one another. While some police agencies release their crime statistics weekly, others do it bi-monthly, and others monthly. For instance, in New York, crime statistics are released weekly. Also, in several states, police stations are allowed to release their crime statistics monthly as part of their accountability duty to the public. However, the national crime statistics for the US are collected monthly from more than 17,000 police agencies by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), but released annually.

The recent crime statistics for South Africa released by the minister of police show a very worrying trend, as most serious crime categories are on the increase. In fact, the crime categories for murder, aggravated assault, sexual offences, aggravated robberies and attempted murder have been on the increase for the past several years. 

Generally, people are most concerned about contact crimes and the crime situation in their neighbourhoods. Therefore, local crime statistics should be released more frequently to enhance public awareness and support for local policing and other crime prevention initiatives. If local police commanders are willing to work with communities on the basis of this information, they could also promote public trust and confidence in policing, but this will also require ensuring that all types of police misconduct are effectively dealt with.

To further enhance the credibility of crime statistics, there is a process underway to involve StatsSA in verifying SAPS crime stats. It would be preferable if StatsSA released the crime stats and not the minister of police. Evidence suggests that independent statutory bodies tasked with the collection and reporting of crime statistics can enhance the credibility and reliability of crime statistics.

Crime statistics are a matter that concerns not only the minister of police or the SAPS; they are everyone’s business. Everyone is affected by crime. The SAPS and the minister should not be the only ones who are privy to up-to-date crime statistics. A good understanding of crime trends by everyone will empower people to take proactive safety measures. It will also send a positive message that the government is indeed serious about partnering with the whole of society to reduce crime. DM