Less than a quarter of finalised prosecutions for murder, in some of Cape Town's most gang blighted areas, resulted in successful convictions last year. This emerges from information provided in reply to a parliamentary question by Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Jeff Radebe.
Minister Radebe was asked by the Democratic Alliance's Debbie Schafer MP what number of cases of murder in Hanover Park, Lavender Hill, Elsies River, Manenberg and Bishop Lavis had been referred to the National Prosecuting Authority by the South African Police Service - for the years 2007/2008 to 2011/2012 - and how many of these cases had resulted in convictions.
Recently Western Cape Premier Helen Zille requested unsuccessfully that President Jacob Zuma deploy the SANDF to two of these areas - Hanover Park and Lavender Hill - due to the high level of gang violence.
According to the information provided by Radebe a total of 276 murder cases from these areas were referred to the NPA by the SAPS in 2011/2012 (down from 364 the previous year.) 140 prosecutions were finalised, resulting in 108 acquittals and 32 convictions. In total, over the past five years, 1 469 murder cases in these areas have been referred to the NPA by the SAPS, 921 prosecutions have been finalised, and 174 convictions secured.
In answer to the question of whether any of the cases were gang related Radebe stated that the data collection system used by his department does not make provision for the collection of this information.
A detailed breakdown is provided in the tables below:
1. Hanover Park (cases registered at Philippi police station)
|
Murder cases referred to NPA by SAPS |
Prosecutions finalised |
Convictions |
Acquittals |
Conviction rate (C/PF) |
|
|
2007/08 |
37 |
33 |
5 |
28 |
15.2% |
|
2008/09 |
42 |
43 |
14 |
29 |
32.6% |
|
2009/10 |
20 |
29 |
8 |
21 |
27.6% |
|
2010/11 |
57 |
10 |
3 |
7 |
30.0% |
|
2011/12 |
41 |
23 |
5 |
18 |
21.7% |
|
Cases pending |
30 |
***
2. Lavender Hill (cases registered at Steenberg police station)
|
Murder cases referred to NPA by SAPS |
Prosecutions finalised |
Convictions |
Acquittals |
Conviction rate (C/PF) |
|
|
2007/08 |
19 |
14 |
6 |
8 |
42.9% |
|
2008/09 |
20 |
25 |
4 |
21 |
16.0% |
|
2009/10 |
16 |
21 |
2 |
19 |
9.5% |
|
2010/11 |
51 |
13 |
4 |
9 |
30.8% |
|
2011/12 |
42 |
17 |
5 |
12 |
29.4% |
|
Cases pending |
19 |
***
3. Elsies River
|
Murder cases referred to NPA by SAPS |
Prosecutions finalised |
Convictions |
Acquittals |
Conviction rate (C/PF) |
|
|
2007/08 |
34 |
33 |
1 |
32 |
3.0% |
|
2008/09 |
46 |
37 |
6 |
31 |
16.2% |
|
2009/10 |
54 |
36 |
14 |
22 |
38.9% |
|
2010/11 |
54 |
19 |
4 |
15 |
21.1% |
|
2011/12 |
49 |
22 |
1 |
21 |
4.5% |
|
Cases pending |
10 |
||||
***
4. Manenberg
|
Murder cases referred to NPA by SAPS |
Prosecutions finalised |
Convictions |
Acquittals |
Conviction rate (C/PF) |
|
|
2007/08 |
64 |
46 |
3 |
43 |
6.5% |
|
2008/09 |
75 |
73 |
12 |
61 |
16.4% |
|
2009/10 |
47 |
21 |
6 |
15 |
28.6% |
|
2010/11 |
114 |
20 |
5 |
15 |
25.0% |
|
2011/12 |
57 |
34 |
15 |
19 |
44.1% |
|
Cases pending |
29 |
***
5. Bishop Lavis
|
Murder cases referred to NPA by SAPS |
Prosecutions finalised |
Convictions |
Acquittals |
Conviction rate (C/CF) |
|
|
2007/08 |
83 |
56 |
0 |
56 |
0.0% |
|
2008/09 |
165 |
109 |
15 |
94 |
13.8% |
|
2009/10 |
107 |
88 |
20 |
68 |
22.7% |
|
2010/11 |
88 |
55 |
10 |
45 |
18.2% |
|
2011/12 |
87 |
44 |
6 |
38 |
13.6% |
|
Cases pending |
21 |
***
Total of all five areas combined
|
Murder cases referred to NPA by SAPS |
Prosecutions finalised |
Convictions |
Acquittals |
Conviction rate (C/PF) |
|
|
2007/08 |
237 |
182 |
15 |
137 |
8.2% |
|
2008/09 |
348 |
287 |
51 |
236 |
17.8% |
|
2009/10 |
244 |
195 |
50 |
145 |
25.6% |
|
2010/11 |
364 |
117 |
26 |
91 |
22.2% |
|
2011/12 |
276 |
140 |
32 |
108 |
22.9% |
|
Cases pending |
109 |
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
