Minister of Police, Bheki Cele has expressed concern about the increase in violent crimes in the country.
Releasing the quarterly statistics 2020/21 report on quarterly Crime Statistics Police Minister Bheki Cele says South Africa has recorded an increase in both rape and murder in the last three months of 2020.
Cele admits that the South African Police Services (SAPS) is finding it hard to deal with certain crimes, mentioning Cash-In-Transit heists in particular.
Compared to the previous quarter, Q3 saw 26 more cash-in-transit robberies committed in the country. Other crimes which saw an increase during this period include murder, house robberies and rape.
Over 12 000 people were raped in South Africa between October and December last year, while over 6 000 people were murdered during the same period.
Murder saw an increase of 6.6%, see Infographic below for more:
Rape incidents are also on the increase, with Inanda and UMlazi in KwaZulu-Natal reporting the most cases:
House robberies and CIT heists on the rise, whilst business-related robberies saw a decline:
Cele says they need to re-visit their approach at fighting Cash-In-Transit heists “If we are to win against these thugs, SAPS must go back to the drawing board and work with speed.”
He promises that they will be engaging stakeholders in the cash-in-transit industry in the following week.
Dr Johan Burger is a Senior Researcher: Governance, Crime and Justice Division at the Institute of Security Studies:
