The South African Police Service (SAPS) has presented the latest crime statistics for the country, showing a wave of red across almost all crime categories as criminal activity escalates.<\/p>\n
Presenting the data on Wednesday (23 November), police minister Bheki Cele conceded that things look bad, but noted that the statistics for Q2 2023 are being compared against data from a period when the country was under various stages of lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
The data reported crimes from 1 July 2022 to 20 September 2022 and are compared against the same period in 2021.<\/p>\n
He noted that over the comparable period, South Africa was under lockdown stages 4, 3 and 2 – explaining why the latest figures show such high rates of escalation.<\/p>\n
However, the minister admitted that the crime figures show that aggression and violence are at worrying levels in South Africa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The July to September months saw a record number of assault cases reported to the police in five years, he said, with 7,004 people killed by other persons in the country.<\/p>\n “More must be done to prevent and also respond to these crimes that are often carried out publicly in a violent manner,” he said.<\/p>\n “While the overview of these crime statistics may be disheartening at face value, they should not make us lose confidence in our endeavour to fight crime. The rule of law must stand firm in South Africa.”<\/p>\n Cele said that it is clear that the SAPS must continue to sharpen its responses to crime, including arresting some members of the SAPS who choose to work against the law.<\/p>\n He said that as the country heads towards the festive season, criminals tend to be brazen as they try to undermine the rule of law – but SAPS is moving to combat this by putting 10,000 more boots on the ground in December to intensify police visibility during the festive season and beyond.<\/p>\n “More boots will be on the ground, and escalated crime prevention and crime-combating operations will be a daily occurrence until the end of January 2023.”<\/p>\n The only two crime categories that saw a reduction in reported crimes over the period were burglary at non-residential premises and arson.<\/p>\n The tables below outline the key statistics.<\/p>\n SA crime stats: Q2 2021\/22 vs Q2 2022\/23<\/strong><\/p>\n Biggest increases in crime categories for 2022\/23<\/strong><\/p>\n Crime detected as a result of police action<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\n 2021\/22 vs 2022\/23<\/th>\n Jul-Sep 2021<\/th>\n Jul-Sep 2022<\/th>\n Change<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n \n Contact Crimes<\/td>\n 137 145<\/td>\n 162 518<\/td>\n +18.5%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Contact-related Crimes<\/td>\n 28 988<\/td>\n 30 394<\/td>\n +4.9%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Property-related Crimes<\/td>\n 89 576<\/td>\n 96 217<\/td>\n +7.4%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Other Serious Crimes<\/td>\n 94 810<\/td>\n 113 381<\/td>\n +19.6%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Total public reported<\/strong><\/td>\n 350 519<\/strong><\/td>\n 402 510<\/strong><\/td>\n +14.8%<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Crime detected as a result of police action<\/em><\/td>\n 42 750<\/em><\/td>\n 55 918<\/em><\/td>\n +30.8%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Total<\/strong><\/td>\n 393 269<\/strong><\/td>\n 458 428<\/strong><\/td>\n +16.6%<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n
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\n Category<\/th>\n Jul-Sep 2021<\/th>\n Jul-Sep 2022<\/th>\n Change<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n \n Truck hijacking<\/td>\n 410<\/td>\n 561<\/td>\n +36.8%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Common robbery<\/td>\n 9 619<\/td>\n 12 024<\/td>\n +25.0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Carjacking<\/td>\n 4 973<\/td>\n 6 149<\/td>\n +23.6%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Robbery with aggravating circumstances<\/td>\n 31 480<\/td>\n 38 412<\/td>\n +22.0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Commercial crime<\/td>\n 24 613<\/td>\n 29 516<\/td>\n +19.9%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Common assault<\/td>\n 37 137<\/td>\n 44 389<\/td>\n +19.5%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Attempted murder<\/td>\n 5 157<\/td>\n 6 155<\/td>\n +19.4%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n All theft not mentioned elsewhere<\/td>\n 59 671<\/td>\n 70 576<\/td>\n +18.3%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Theft out of or from motor vehicle<\/td>\n 19 467<\/td>\n 22 792<\/td>\n +17.1%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm<\/td>\n 35 625<\/td>\n 41 251<\/td>\n +15.8%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Shoplifting<\/td>\n 10 526<\/td>\n 13 289<\/td>\n +14.8%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Theft of motor vehicle and motorcycle<\/td>\n 8 721<\/td>\n 9 937<\/td>\n +13.9%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Murder<\/td>\n 6 163<\/td>\n 7 004<\/td>\n +13.6%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Burglary at residential premises<\/td>\n 35 949<\/td>\n 40 550<\/td>\n +12.8%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Sexual Offences<\/td>\n 11 964<\/td>\n 13 283<\/td>\n +11.0%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Stock-theft<\/td>\n 6 663<\/td>\n 7 342<\/td>\n +10.2%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Robbery at non-residential premises<\/td>\n 4 867<\/td>\n 5 294<\/td>\n +8.8%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Robbery at residential premises<\/td>\n 5 372<\/td>\n 5 825<\/td>\n +8.4%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Robbery of cash in transit<\/td>\n 52<\/td>\n 56<\/td>\n +7.7%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Malicious damage to property<\/td>\n 27 704<\/td>\n 29 337<\/td>\n +5.9%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Bank robbery<\/td>\n 1<\/td>\n 3<\/td>\n +2 counts<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Burglary at non-residential premises<\/td>\n 18 776<\/td>\n 15 506<\/td>\n -16.9%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Arson<\/td>\n 1 284<\/td>\n 1 057<\/td>\n -17.7%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n\n
\n Category<\/th>\n Jul-Sep 2021<\/th>\n Jul-Sep 2022<\/th>\n Change<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n \n Sexual offences discovered as a result of police action<\/td>\n 1 522<\/td>\n 2 154<\/td>\n +41.5%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs<\/td>\n 7 649<\/td>\n 10 761<\/td>\n +40.7%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Drug-related crime<\/td>\n 30 224<\/td>\n 38 956<\/td>\n +28.9%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Illegal possession of firearms and ammunition<\/td>\n 3 355<\/td>\n 4 047<\/td>\n +20.6%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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