Johannesburg – The latest crime statistics on Friday showed that murder, sexual offences, and taxi-related murders were still on the rise in South Africa.
The Police Ministry presented the data covering period between April last year to March this year.
The minister also announced that the figures would now be released quarterly following years of protests by civil society.
He also revealed that not only were more South Africans killed in the past year, but even more people were raped.
While Cele shone the light on the crimes that were on the decrease were bank robberies and the decline in stock theft, the police’s inability to bring down the numbers of these serious crimes was glaring.
“Awareness campaigns on gender-based violence and femicide must be intensified; private sector and gender activists’ organisations must work together with government to defeat the scourge and expose perpetrators in this regard,”
Of the recorded 53,293 cases of sexual offences recorded, rape was at the top of this list at 42,289 –an increase by 706 cases as compared to last year.
