A total of 7 710 people were murdered in the country between 1 October and 31 December 2023.
This was revealed by Police Minister Bheki Cele when he released the third quarterly crime statistics for financial year 2023/24 in Pretoria.
This is an increase of more than 2% when compared to the same period in the previous year,
“It is disturbing and concerning that the number of people murdered during this period, increased by 2.1% leading to 155 more people murdered as compared to the same period.
The provinces of KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Free State must be singled out and commended for being able to register a reduction in the number of people murdered during this period,” said Cele.
The Minister noted that attention and more resources have been allocated to stations that have the highest number of murders reported, that are based at Western Cape, KwaZulu Natal, Gauteng and Eastern Cape.
From a sample size of the 7 340 murders committed it was established that arguments, misunderstandings, and provocation, remains the top causal factor leading to 1 116 murders.
He applauded Operation Shanela which he said is making its mark and putting a dent on serious, violent, and organised crime. Since its inception on 08 May 2023, more than 442 thousand suspects have been arrested.
Cele said more than 70 000 people were arrested during the festive period for various crime offences that include common assault and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, murder and attempted murder, sexual offences, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, drugs related charges, possession of illegal and prohibited firearms and ammunition.
The Minister highlighted some of the major drug bust registered during this period, including cocaine to the value of R300 million seized at the Durban Harbour and R65 million at the Gqerberha Sea Port.
Cele applauded the men and women in blue for ensuring that all sexual offences crimes including, rape sexual assault and contact sexual offences went down to 15 284 from 15 545 in 2022, a 1.7% decrease.
Meanwhile, following years of criticism regarding the DNA backlog, Cele announced that this has finally been cleared.
“There has been significant progress in the finalisation rate of DNA cases and the eradication of the historic DNA backlog which is currently standing at zero from 251 000 in the 2021/22 financial year.
Further to this, the expansion of the DNA lab in Gqeberha, which was opened by the president in August 2023, has contributed immensely to the processing of more DNA samples in the country,” explained Cele.
The Minister hailed specialised teams put in place in each province that resulted in the reduction of cash-in-transit (CIT) robberies.
“During this period, 46 CIT armed robberies took place which is 11 counts lower than the previous crime reporting period. In the past year, more than 75 wanted CIT suspects were arrested during takedown operations.
High calibre firearms including rifles and AK47s as well as high performance vehicles that were used in the commission of these crimes were seized,” said Cele.
The Minister also noted a that property related crime registered an overall 2,9% decrease, stock theft which includes the theft of livestock also registered a drop in the number of cases reported.
Cele expressed concern regarding the continuous killing of police officers in the country.
“Twenty-two police officers were killed during this period, ten were killed on duty while 12 were killed off-duty.
Our police officers were also able to track down and apprehend 12 police killers during this period.
Two police killers were also sentenced and convicted to 4 life term imprisonment sentences,” emphasized Cele.
Police efforts to deal decisively and neutralize construction mafia’s, resulted in the arrest of more than 61 suspects linked to these extortions were arrested.
The Minister highlighted that kidnappings for ransom has become a lucrative commodity for organised crime in South Africa, adding that more than 300 suspects linked to these kidnappings have been arrested in the last two years.
Cele said the police’s Operation Vala Umgodi is starting to bear fruits in seven illegal mining hotspot provinces such as Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Northern Cape, KwaZulu Natal, Free State and North West.
“About 1258 illegal miners have been arrested during this period.
Through these operations, we were able to seize 94 illegal and unwanted firearms including, 25 rifles and 69 handguns.
One hundred and three stolen and hijacked vehicles were also recovered,” said Cele.