It seems even children are not spared in the orgy of violence as police crime stats show that more than 60 children were killed in Gauteng alone in the first three months of 2023.
Gauteng Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela confirmed that 61 children have been murdered between January to March this year while releasing crime statistics in Joburg on Wednesday.
The provincial statistics show that for the same period 1 556 people were murdered, the highest number of homicides recorded in the last five years.
“Although our overall crime increased by 2 129 counts, translating to a 2.0% increase as compared to the same time in 2021/2022, we are encouraged by the fact that when we reflect on the provincial performance taking into consideration a number of offences, we have reduced eight offences from the 17 Community Reported Serious Crime (CRSC).
“A small feat but a great sign that we are on the right path with implementation of our crime combating strategies,” said Mawela.
Gauteng still contributes significantly to the overall increase in national crime statistics by 27.1%.
The stats show that the cause of many deaths is due to people taking the law into their own hands with 164 victims of vigilantism recorded. While road rage is the second cause of deaths with 153 people killed.
Reported cases of rape have shown a slight decrease from 2 267 to 2 168 during the same period last year.
However, former Community Safety MEC and member of the Community Safety committee in the Gauteng Legislature, Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, said there was nothing to celebrate when dealing with rape.
“We can’t celebrate when we deal with issues of rape when 2,300 women are being raped in three months, then we think if we get a less than a 10% reduction it’s a big victory – it’s not.”
Mawela cautioned unsuspecting consumers saying on-line shoppers and e-hailing service users are becoming soft targets for criminals.
“People are easily robbed through the online shopping scam and e-hailing services, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has brought about e-commerce. This in turn has created a platform for criminals to target unsuspecting victims,” he said.
