The South African Police Service (SAPS) and Stats SA have released the country’s crime statistics for the period of April 2018 to March 2019. Murder has increased by 3.4% and sexual offences have increased by 4.6%.
The report separates serious crimes into five main categories:
– contact crime (murder and attempted murder, sexual offences, assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, common assault, common robbery, and robbery with aggravating circumstances)
– contact related crime (arson, malicious damage to property)
– property-related crime (residential burglary, business burglary, theft of motor vehicle, theft out/from motor vehicle, stock theft)
– other serious crimes (theft, other, commercial crime, shoplifting)
– crimes dependent on police action for detection (illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, drug related crimes, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, sexual offences detected as result of police action)
In total, 2 013 271 crimes were reported within this time period, a decrease from the 2 096 781 of 2017/2018. 617 210 contact crimes (2.6% increase), 117 172 contact related crimes (1.6% decrease), 495 161 property related crimes (2.5% decrease), 444 447 other serious crimes (1.4% increase), and 339 281 crimes detected as a result of police action (21.8% decrease) were reported.
The Western Cape ranks second in the country for most contact crimes with 113 987 reported. Gauteng province takes the top spot with 174 894 reports. The Western Cape has the third-highest murder statistics provincially, most being gang-related.
60% of murders occur over the weekend between 9pm and 3am. More victims of murder were killed with firearms and knives than any other instrument.
Sexual offences include rape, sexual assault, attempted sexual offence, and contact sexual offence. Nationally, sexual offences have had a 4.6% increase from 50 108 to 52 420. The Western Cape has the fourth most reported sexual offences provincially. The overwhelming majority of rapes are perpetrated against females between the ages of 20-29.
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