Political parties clash over Gauteng’s crime statistics

Political parties have sharply diverged over the latest third-quarter crime statistics released by the South African Police Service (SAPS), with the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng insisting the province remains the country’s murder capital despite a national decline in killings. Briefing the media on Friday, Acting Police Minister Professor Firoz Cachalia reported that nationally, murders fell by 8.7% and overall violent crime dropped by 6.7% between October 1 and December 31. “Most violent crime categories, including murder, rape and robbery, as well as most property-related crimes such as theft and burglary, continued to decrease, but remain at unacceptably high levels,” he said.

Yet in Gauteng, the picture is more complex. The province recorded 1 536 murders over the three months, roughly 17 people killed every day, accounting for 24.2% of all murders nationally. Contact crimes fell by 6.7%, sexual offences dropped by 2.8%, and common robbery decreased by 7.0%, but serious crimes such as attempted murder rose by 2.5% to 1 939 cases.

Robberies of cash-in-transit vehicles increased to 13 incidents, and commercial crime climbed 2% to 13 181 reported cases. The province also saw increases in arson, shoplifting, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and sexual offences detected through police action.