South Africa: crimes still on the rise, deplores the Minister of Police


Family members of victims of a shooting at a birthday party that killed eight people in South Africa. January 30, 2023. DEON FERREIRA / REUTERS

Murders and rapes in South Africa have risen further, according to the latest official crime figures, which only give “not a positive imageof the country, Police Minister Bheki Cele acknowledged on Friday.

The crime figures we publish today do not paint a positive picture of the situation in our countryalthough there has been progress in some areas, Police Minister Bheki Cele told a press conference in Cape Town.

Under fire from critics

South Africa is one of the most dangerous countries on the planet. Between October and December 2022, 7,555 people were murdered, including 3,144 with a firearm, according to police statistics. That’s more than 82 murders per day, an increase of more than 10% compared to the same period last year.

The police registered 12,419 rape complaints, also up 9.8%. “Alarmingly, a total of 5,935 rapes took place in the home of the perpetrator or victim“, underlined Bheki Cele, a sign that these crimes are perpetrated within”family, friends or neighbors“.

The minister, increasingly coming under fire in the face of rising crime, called on local communities to stand by the police and intelligence services: “Someone, somewhere, somehow knows something“, he launched. “For the first time in South Africa’s history, murders rose above 80 a day and rapes above 135“, lamented the first opposition party (DA, Democratic Alliance) in a press release.

The party denounces a badly trained police force, the inadequacies of intelligence and the lack of means. “It’s time for (President Cyril) Ramaphosa to leave Cele, to appoint a competent minister“, concludes the party.

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