Crime statistics: Violent crime keeps increasing and is worrying
3 March 2017
The first quarterly announcement of crime statistics is welcomed as the Freedom Front Plus has been asking for it for a number of years. The crime statistics for the first term which runs from 1 April 2016 until 30 September 2016 was for the first time released to the Police portfolio committee.
“Although it shows that there has been a decline of 0.03% in 17 serious crimes which are reported by the community, the public should not be misled. Contact crimes (murder, attempted murder, serious assault, ordinary assault, ordinary robbery and sexual crimes) increased in this period (0,1%), and the triple crimes (car hijackings, robberies at residential properties and robberies at non-residential properties) increased sharply by 14,3%.
“Violent crime in South Africa still increased, which is worrying. Murder (1,3%), attempted murder (0,6%) and murder with aggravating circumstances (6,9%) increased during this reporting period. All of these crimes showed a consecutive increase during the last four years, and again during this quarter,” Dr. Pieter Groenewald, the FF Plus Leader and chief spokesperson on Police, says.
“The triple crimes, i.e. robberies at residential properties (5,7%) non-residential properties (8,1%) and car hijackings (14,3%) increased sharply in the reporting period. The feared crime, robberies at residential properties, have increased for four consecutive years already – and now again in this period by 5,7%.