SAPS Crime Statistics Quarter 4 2021/22; with Ministry

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Police

03 June 2022
Chairperson: Ms T Joemat-Pettersson (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

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In a virtual meeting, the South African Police Service (SAPS) presented the quarter 4 crime statistics of the 2021/22 financial year, which covered the first three months of 2022.

The SAPS statistics indicated an overall increase of 9.3% in reported crimes, compared to the same period last year. Murders had increased by 24.8%, sexual offences by 13.7%, attempted murder by 24.8%, assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm by 18.1% and common assault by 17.6%. Common robbery had increased of 13.0%, and robbery with aggravating circumstances by 6.5%. 

Arguments, vigilantism, retaliation and robberies were among the top four causative factors of murder. All provinces had recorded an increase in rapes. The majority of the rapes occurred at the residences of the perpetrator/victim. Public places were the second most likely place for rapes to occur. 

The Committee were appalled and seriously concerned by the overall increase of 9.3% in the reported crime statistics. It was particularly disturbing that crimes against women and children had increased. The Members requested a further explanation of specific crime statistics, including how many cases had resulted in arrests and convictions. A Member referred to it as a "blood bath". 

SAPS was asked which of its strategies were failing, and what measures it had put in place to tackle specific crimes, such as kidnapping and cash-in-transit heists. What were the reasons for the failure of these strategies to curb violent crime in the country? Was it a failure of crime intelligence, a failure of strategy, or a failure of leadership?

The Chairperson said that in the first three months of this year, more than 6 000 people had been murdered in South Africa, which represented a 22.2% increase over the same period last year. She urged that more should be done to fight gender-based violence and femicide -- the increase in sexual offences was unacceptable. When the Committee had its strategic planning session, it would be time to be brutally honest with one another.

The Chairperson said that the Committee would continue the discussion on the quarterly crime statistics in the next meeting, because it could not just have a superficial understanding of what was happening. This was one of the main responsibilities of the Committee, and it should take full responsibility for the crime statistics that were seen today. The Committee was not the only stakeholder that was responsible, but it was an oversight body. If it did not do its oversight work properly then it had to assess its own position on this, and how effective it was as a Committee

Meeting report

SAPS crime statistics for Quarter 4 2021/22

Maj Gen Norman Sekhukhune, Component Head: Crime Registrar, presented the quarter 4 crime statistics of the 2021/22 financial year, from 1 January until 31 March 2022.

In terms of the crime that was reported to the police from January to March 2020/21 until January to March 2021/22, there was a recorded increase of 1 107 murders -- from 4 976 murders to 6 083 murders. This was a percentage increase of 22.2%.

Sexual offences had a recorded increase of 1 666, which was up from 12 133 sexual offences to 13 799 sexual offences, a percentage increase of 13.7%.

Attempted murder had a recorded increase of 1 135, which was from 4 582 attempted murders to 5 717 attempted murders -- this was a percentage increase of 24.8%.

Assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm had a recorded increase of 6 575, which was from 36 417 to 42 992 assaults with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm. This was a percentage increase of 18.1%. Common assault had a recorded increase of 6 857, which was from 38 889 to 45 746 common assaults, which was a percentage increase of 17.6%.

Common robbery had a recorded increase of 1 238, which was from 9 549 common robberies to 10 787 common robberies, a percentage increase of 13%. Robbery with aggravating circumstances had a recorded increase of 2 015, which was from 30 768 robberies to 32 783 robberies with aggravating circumstances, which was a percentage increase of 6.5%. 

Overall, all crime categories had a percentage increase.

Gauteng accounted for 14 stations in the top 30 contact crime stations; the Western Cape accounted for eight; KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) accounted for seven; and Limpopo accounted for one station in the top 30 contact crime stations.

In terms of the top ten murder stations in the country, KZN accounted for the top three stations, followed by the Western Cape, which accounted for five, with one station each from Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. Arguments, vigilantism, retaliation and robberies were among the top four causative factors of murder.

All provinces recorded an increase in rape. The majority of the rapes occurred at the residences of the perpetrator/victim. Public places were the second most likely place for rapes to occur.

(See presentation for detail.)

Discussion

The Chairperson said that the overall increase of 9.3% in the reported crime statistics was a serious concern. This Committee had to respond firmly, and further oversight was needed on this matter. It was unfortunate that Members had received the crime statistics only that morning and had seen them for the first time during the presentations, as this did not allow them the time to interrogate the information very well. The Committee should receive the presentations on the quarterly crime statistics, and in a following meeting, do analysis and interrogate the crime statistics.

She was concerned about the annual number of murders per 100 000 of the population, and asked that this statistic be highlighted as an annual figure, because it was an international benchmark. Although these were quarterly statistics, she asked that the SAPS also reflect on the annual statistics. Honeydew police station in Gauteng was second on the list of top 30 serious community crime stations, and she questioned how a small police station that was still located in a rental farmhouse could have such a high reporting rate. Some of these station commanders had to come to the Committee to explain the high crime statistics and high crime rates.

The top three murder stations were in KZN, one of which was Plessislaer police station. She asked what the main causes of the murder trends in Plessislaer were, which was a suburb of Pietermaritzburg, and if they had been prompted by any politically-related murders. She asked why the Western Cape accounted for the next top murder stations.

A large portion of the top 30 stations where rape was reported were located in rural areas. She asked how many of these cases resulted in arrests and conviction.

The increase in trio crimes was mainly for monetary gain. The Minister had consistently spoken about the relationship between socio-economic conditions and the places where crimes took place. She asked that the Committee receive a better explanation for this, because this statement could not be made all the time. There had to be some form of response to this and the Committee had to interrogate these matters further. Reducing crime in the country was the Committee's mandate. It had to take this much more seriously.

Dr P Groenewald (FF+) said that the statistics were quite disturbing. What was most disturbing was that the murder of children had increased by 37.2%, and the murder of women by 17.5%. He asked if it was correct that only 12 of the 2 849 kidnappings were human trafficking, because human trafficking had become an increasing problem in South Africa. He asked for further clarity on the causative factors for kidnapping -- for instance, would a hijacking-related causative factor mean that a person was also kidnapped?

He recalled that in previous presentations, the trio crimes referred to carjacking, robbery at residential premises and robbery at non-residential premises, but in this presentation, the definition for trio crimes omitted carjacking and included robbery of cash in transit. He asked for clarity on the trio crimes.

He noted that there were 11 incidents involving murders in the farming community, with 12 victims. He asked for further clarity on the 11 incidents, and that the Committee also receive the statistics on farm attacks. He agreed with the Chairperson’s comment that the Committee would need an explanation on these statistics.

Mr O Terblanche (DA) said that the quarterly statistics were very disturbing, as there were rising crime statistics across all categories. There had been 27 murders of police officials, and if this trend continued it would mean that more than 100 police officials would be murdered in a year. When looking at the 12 farm murders, if this trend continued it would mean that there would be about 50 murders of farmers in a year. Rape had increased, which was a very disturbing picture, as this meant the police were losing the fight against crime. This could not continue as it was, and the Committee needed serious explanations of what was happening. In any self-respecting country, the Minister would have resigned by now. This was totally unacceptable -- South Africa was at war with itself. In comparison to South Africa, Ukraine apparently seemed to be a safer place at the moment.

Mr A Whitfield (DA) said that Members all shared the same sentiments, and he was sure that the Minister would support their views. These were some of the most horrific crime statistics that the country had recently faced. The country had become a crime scene, where kidnapping had increased by over 100% year-on-year. Murder had a percentage increase of 22.2% and sexual offences had a percentage increase of 13.7%. It was a bloodbath.

This Committee needed to know what strategies were failing. He asked what measures the SAPS had put in place to tackle specific crimes such as kidnapping and cash-in-transit heists. He asked why these strategies were not effective, and what the reasons for the failure of these strategies to curb violent crime in the country were, particularly the specialised crimes, which should be easier to tackle rather than community-based crimes which were prolific. Was it a failure of crime intelligence? Was it a failure of the strategy? Was it a failure of leadership? The Committee needed the reasons why the SAPS were struggling to get a hold of this. The Committee knew that 61% of SAPS members did not believe that they were winning the fight against crime, which could be seen in the crime statistics. The Committee deserved an honest and frank assessment of why the SAPS were failing to deal with a range of crimes, specifically those that had been mentioned.

Rev K Meshoe (ACDP) said that it was an understatement to say that the Committee was disappointed. The crime statistics were a clear indication that the police were losing the fight against crime. The figures spoke for themselves, and it was very disturbing. He agreed that the Committee needed to be informed of what had gone wrong. When the violent unrest occurred in July 2021, most people had said that it was intelligence that had failed the country, and it seemed that there was poor intelligence in the security clusters. He asked what was being done to ensure that the officers in the intelligence cluster were doing their job.

The statistics sent a poor message that South Africa had leadership that was failing its people, and South Africans seemed to do nothing about it. He questioned what had gone wrong. He observed that arson had a percentage increase of 24.3% and malicious damage to property had a percentage increase of 15.3%. He asked how successful the police had been in arresting and doing proper investigations that would end in convictions. One seldom heard of convictions of those who had been arrested for malicious damage to property. He asked why the conviction rates were so low.

He said that it was interesting to note that the crimes reported during the adjusted level 3 lockdown regulations were much higher than those reported under adjusted level 1, and asked for the possible reasons why more crime was reported during adjusted level 3. It was disturbing to note that the murder of women and children had increased. He asked how many kidnappings had ended up increasing the number of women and children that had been murdered. How many human trafficking kidnappings were for sexual slavery?

The murder of police officers was another great concern. What was being done to protect the police, particularly after they had done their job when arresting criminals? He explained that it was difficult for the police to arrest people in their own communities, because the police became an enemy to those people. There must be a way of protecting the police, because the number of police that were killed in this country was totally unacceptable.

Mr H Shembeni (EFF) recalled that the Minister had mentioned that the crime statistics did not look good at all. Murder, attempted murder and sexual offences had a high increase, which was really disturbing, particularly when looking at the crimes against women and children. It seemed as if the police were failing and the criminals were winning. When comparing January to March 2020/21 with January to March 2021/22, there had been an overall increase of 9.3% in crime statistics, which was totally unacceptable.

He observed that the Delmas police station was the second leading station for kidnappings, but Delmas seemed to be a small place, and he asked where these kidnappings specifically took place. He said that the murder of a police officer should be regarded as a crime against the state. A police officer represented the state, so something different must be done by the criminal justice system to stop the murder of police officers.

The issues of illegal firearms and ammunition must be dealt with, considering the number of crimes committed. If a person who was found in possession of illegal firearms and ammunition was sentenced to life imprisonment, a lot of these crimes could be stopped.

Ms G Marekwa (ANC) said she appreciated the work that the police had done over the years in making sure that they strategised, but criminals also had their platforms where they strategised. The Committee and police needed another platform to see what could be done to address the current scourge of crime. Crime was not only the responsibility of the police -- there needed to be all-hands-on-deck. She had observed the crime statistics had revealed that some people had been killed and raped outside of shebeens; business owners, communities and everybody needed to play a role in fighting crime. The police had to ensure that the communities got involved, and that people assisted one another in fighting crime, instead of communities taking the law into their own hands. She appreciated the areas where proactive policing took place and where people were arrested before committing a crime.

The Chairperson said that the Committee would continue the discussion on the quarterly crime statistics in the next meeting, because it could not just have a superficial understanding of what was happening. This was one of the main responsibilities of the Committee, and it should take full responsibility for the crime statistics that were seen today. The Committee was not the only stakeholder that was responsible, but it was an oversight body. If it did not do its oversight work properly then it had to assess its own position on this, and how effective it was as a Committee.

Minister’s comments

General Bheki Cele, Minister of Police, said that the Plessislaer police station was originally meant for two townships, but today the community around the police station was really big.

He thanked the Committee for the opportunity to discuss the crime statistics, because there were some issues that the police would like to put on the table to figure out how to deal with them. He referred to the place of occurrence for some categories of contact crime, pointing out that a significant place of occurrence was the residences of the perpetrator or victim, including residences known by the victim or perpetrator. These crimes had occurred in places that were supposed to be safe. Similarly, the leading place of occurrence for rape was the residences of the perpetrator or victim, or residences known by the victim or perpetrator; public places were the second leading place of occurrence for rape.

He encouraged the analysis of the statistics, and he agreed that the police would have to find answers. He requested that the SAPS get enough time to do an analysis in order to present the case management statistics -- for instance, to determine how many crimes were registered in rural areas, how many cases had been taken to court, how many people had been found guilty, how many were on bail, how many were on repeated bail and for what kind of cases. The SAPS would do an analysis to present a better understanding of the crime statistics.

SAPS' response

Maj Gen Sekhukhune confirmed that the trio crimes were still classified as carjacking, robbery at residential premises and robbery at non-residential premises.

Regarding the murders of the farming community, there were 11 incidents which had resulted in 12 victims, and these incidents might be termed as farm attacks because six of these murders had happened during the commission of a robbery at the residential premises. He said that the heading on the presentation could be refined to “farm attacks/farm murders.”

The reason the crimes reported during the adjusted level 3 lockdown regulations were higher than those reported under adjusted level 1, was that at the higher levels of the lockdown there were higher restrictions than at the lower levels of lockdown. For instance, it was observed that in some instances alcohol did play a role in the commission of crimes. With the restrictions of movement and time, and the restriction of the days when alcohol could be sold and consumed, these enablers were so restricted that it significantly reduced the probability of a crime being committed.

The kidnappings reported at the Delmas police station would require further analysis, but this was where the crimes were committed and reported within that policing precinct.

Lt Gen Michael Motlhala, Divisional Commissioner: Visible Policing and Operations, said that a lot of crime had been detected as a result of police action. There had been a 20.2% increase in the total crime detected as a result of police action. A lot was being done by members of the SAPS and its partners to reduce crime. In the previous week, the SAPS had held a strategic session led by the National Commissioner, to review some of the strategies and to continue with the operations that specifically focused on the geographical and organised crime approach. The SAPS were mobilising and deploying dedicated and specialised operations that were comprised of Intelligence, Crime Detection, the National Intervention Unit and Public Order Policing, to ensure that the SAPS stabilised particular areas.

When looking at the quarter from January to March 2022, the majority of the cases occurred in January. Moving forward, this may imply that when SAPS intensifies its festive season operations, it also intensifies its operations during January.

Maj Gen R Mogale, Divisional Commissioner: Detective and Forensic Services, referred to the question about the convictions for arson and malicious damage to property. He said the statistics could be provided to show that people were convicted after intensive investigation, but the convictions of those crimes might not be a deterrence because those convicted might not be sentenced severely enough to deter them from committing the crime again. After thorough investigation, people were arrested and convicted. In some instances, when arson was committed, there would need to be an investigation, and thereafter the docket could be presented to court and it might take a long before a prosecution took place.

KwaZulu-Natal

Lt Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, Provincial Commissioner, KZN, said that if one looked at all of the stations that appeared in the top 30 stations within KwaZulu-Natal, the population size in all of those stations versus the resources they had and the challenges faced due to the environmental design of those stations remained a challenge. He explained that the collection of intelligence, the efforts in the prevention of crime, the number of firearms recovered and the recovery of stolen vehicles, were all aimed at decreasing the number of criminals, but this did not show up on the crime statistics. In terms of volume, there was still a high level of crime experienced in these top 30 stations.

He said that KZN currently had a 122.94% overpopulation of prisons, which amounted to 22 273 criminals that were behind bars. The correctional facilities in KZN had a capacity of 18 117 beds, which meant that the police were doing more than what the correctional facilities could take. There had been a crime summit in KZN to try and figure out how to reduce crime and how to discourage communities from doing crime, and there had been quite a number of analyses that explained the causative factors that helped the communities reduce crime. He questioned whether the crime statistics were the real measurement of the police performance, because the police were putting all their efforts into sending perpetrators through the criminal justice system and to prison -- but the prison could not take the volume. He questioned what happened to those perpetrators who could not learn in prison.

There were petty crimes for which the courts did not send a person to prison. For example, a person found with a small quantity of drugs would not be sent to prison because of the overpopulation, and instead the person would get community service punitive measures to clean a facility for a week or two. This then led to a cycle where people did not have any fear when committing those types of criminal activities. Once a person took a substance, they were bound to do other serious crimes, such as murders and rapes etc. If the prisons could not accommodate those people that committed petty crimes because of their capacity, then what happens to those individuals? He assured the Committee that KwaZulu-Natal was doing everything possible to try and fight crime. When considering the past five years, there had been some encouraging figures, but when monitoring on a quarterly basis, particularly the previous quarter, it did look concerning. KwaZulu-Natal was working on improving this.

Gauteng

Lt Gen Elias Mawela, Provincial Commissioner, Gauteng, said that Gauteng was the biggest contributor to the overall crime in the country. He agreed that crime was not the responsibility of the police alone. Fighting crime should have a whole of government approach, partnering with societies. Gauteng had the leading numbers for common assault, assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, and robbery with aggravating circumstances. He said common assault and assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm was beyond the reach of the police, but if the police worked together with all other stakeholders and communities to deal with the social ills within the communities, then the volume of crime would reduce in Gauteng.

The Honeydew policing precinct was not as small as it looked, as the previous census population estimate had been over 240 000. The precinct was responsible not only for the suburbs, but also covered Zandfontein and Cosmo City. For example, the crimes reported in Honeydew were in high volumes because when a criminal entered into a yard of a rental property and committed a burglary, it might generate over six cases in one yard -- when the cases were registered, they would be considered as housebreaking for each room. The police in Gauteng would not tire, and would continue to fight crime to the best of their ability.

The Chairperson agreed that the crime statistics should not measure the police's performance. The crime statistics needed to be looked at more carefully.

The Minister said he was determined that the crime statistics should be analysed to help find solutions. Sometimes the police suffered for sins that they did not commit. He urged the Committee and the SAPS look into the analysis of the crime statistics, as well as the causative factors.

The Chairperson suggested that there should be a complete research study that linked the crime trends to the socioeconomic conditions.

Western Cape

Lt Gen (Adv) Thembisile Patekile, Provincial Commissioner, Western Cape, said that the previous two quarters had been good for the Western Cape, with the exception of this quarter. The SAPS were considering all of the issues, but the socio-economic conditions were a problem. As much as one did not want to hear about the environmental designs, it was the truth that it was one of the uncomfortable topics that had to be talked about. The majority of the crimes, especially the contact crimes, such as murders and domestic violence, took place in houses. This was followed by revenge in the form of gang violence, taxi violence and extortion. These were everyday crimes that the SAPS were confronted with. There had also been a flare-up of mob justice incidents in the informal settlements, where one could not patrol or walk during the night.

These were some of the problems that were not really in the police's hands, but the SAPS were dealing with it by mobilising communities and in many areas, it had seen a decline in crime. The SAPS and Ministry were looking into mobilising more communities and were planning a crime summit in Khayelitsha, which was a hotspot for many of the crimes. There would be more awareness campaigns at the street level -- street imbizos were gaining momentum in many of the hotspot areas. The SAPS were also looking at the repeat offenders, and getting them back into prison. 

Lt Gen Francinah Vuma, Deputy National Commissioner: Support Services, reiterated that the SAPS recently had a strategic planning session to consider alternative approaches to fighting crime. She said that the SAPS also welcomed the directive made by the Chairperson and the Minister, that there was a need to engage further to address crime in the country.

Closing remarks

The Chairperson said that the Committee had committed itself to continue this discussion at the next meeting. In the first three months of this year, more than 6 000 people had been murdered in South Africa, which represented a 22.2% increase over the same period last year. She urged that more should be done to fight gender-based violence and femicide -- the increase in sexual offences was unacceptable. When the Committee had its strategic planning session, it would be time to be brutally honest with one another.

The meeting was adjourned. 

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