According to the latest crime statistics, the Western Cape is the biggest contributor to the country’s murder rate that has increased by 1.8 %.
The country’s long-standing “murder capital”, Nyanga, remains that with a grim total of 281 murders being recorded for the period of April 2016 to March 2017.
In the previous year (April 2015 to March 2016) 279 murders were reported in the Nyanga precinct.
The annual crime statistics were announced on Tuesday October 24 in Parliament by Police Minister Fikile Mbalula.
The crime stats also reveal that the province is home to a third of the country’s police stations where the most killings have been recorded and it’s also home to seven out of the top 10 police stations where the highest numbers of murders have been recorded.
In Vukani’s distribution area, Mfuleni police station recorded a 40.8 %increase in its murder cases, while 183 rapes were recorded for the 2016/2017 period – an increase of 53 of the 130 rapes reported in the 2015/2016 period.
Although there are shocking increases in some of the townships, the Gugulethu police station, ranked number nine in the top 30 stations, when it came to murder, recorded the sharpest percentage decrease of 26.1 % in murders. In the 2015/2016 period, 184 murders were recorded, while for the year ending in March 2017, 136 murders were recorded.
Another sharp decrease is at Khayelitsha police station where the station recorded a 27.2 % decrease in reported murder cases. The number of reported cases, 191 in the 2015/2016 period, dropped by 52, to 139 cases in the 2016/2017 period.
Mr Mbalula said alcohol, gang fights and drugs are the main contributors to the killings.
He said the statistics represented the memory of that gruesome rape or murder, the fearful home invasion and loss of property. In a statement he said: “Our people are losing their children to heinous crimes, drugs, the infighting and turf wars of gangs, our people have no-go areas due to criminality and violence that visit such areas.”
Following the release, a stakeholder breakfast was held on Wednesday morning at Cape Town Lodge Hotel at which Mr Mbalula, Deputy Minister of Police, Bongani Mkongi and SAPS management engaged with various stakeholders regarding the crime statistics.
