Bheki Cele ‘deeply concerned’ over increased murder statistics!

The police minister, Bheki Cele has expressed his shock over an increased number of people killed during the fourth quarter of the 2021/2022.

“Over 1 107 more people were killed in South Africa between January and March compared to the same period in 2021,” Cele said when he tabled down quarterly crime statistics before parliament today.

Cele said out of the 6 083 people killed in the country, 898 of them were women and 306 were children under the age of 17 years.

Shockingly, he revealed that the murder of children recorded a 37.2% increase in the period of reporting.

“A total of 2 268 people were murdered in public places such as open fields, streets, parking areas and abandoned buildings. The second most likely place for murder to occur is at the home of the victim or of the perpetrator,” Cele said.

“Crime continues to rise in the country especially for murder and rape cases,” he addressed.

Sexual offences moved from 12 133 to 13 799 that showed an increase of 13,7%.

According to the statistics, robbery cases has decreased.

Robbery inside the premises decreased from 5288 to 5 267.

Robbery outside the premises decreased from 4 872 to 4 700.

The crime statistics detailed that most crimes occur in the residents of perpetrators/victims, public places such as streets and abandoned buildings, and lastly they occur on the liquor outlets such as sheeben and taverns.

In some instances, drugs and alcohols were also a contributor to an increase in rape cases.

27 police officers were killed in this quarter. Seven were on duty and 20 were off duty.