Media Statement from the Office of the Minister of Police

Cape Town: The Minister of Police, Mr Bheki Cele, MP today presented the 2017/2018 crime statistics to the Portfolio Committee on Police, and thereafter hosted a media briefing in Parliament together with the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service, General Khehla Sitole.

The crime statistics presented are for the twelve month period, 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 and encompasses two broad categories of crime, ie 17 Community-Reported Serious Crimes and four Crimes Dependent on Police Action.

The 17 Community-Reported Serious Crimes are further broken down into four categories being Contact Crimes, Contact Related Crimes, Property Related Crimes and Other Serious Crimes. These are further sub-divided into sub-categories. The four Crimes Detected as a Result of Police Action are Illegal Possession of Firearm and Ammunition, Drug Related Crimes, Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and Drugs and Sexual Offences Detected as a Result of Police Action.

Over the past financial year, between 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 the following decreases were experienced across the 17 Community-Reported Serious Crimes:

• Contact Crimes decreased by 1.1%
• Contact Related Crimes decreased by 4.4%
• Property Related Crimes decreased by 6.0%
• Other Serious Crime decreased by 6.6%.

Under Contact Crimes, the following was recorded between the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 financial years:

• Murder increased by 6.9%
• Attempted murder increased by 0.2%
• Robbery with aggravating circumstances decreased by 1.8%
• Common robbery decreased by 5.0%
• Rape increased by 0.5%
• Sexual assault increased by 8.2%
• Assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm decreased by 1.9%
• Common assault decreased by 0.1%

The trio crimes of carjacking, robbery at residential premises and robbery at non-residential premises resort under the contact crime Robbery with Aggravating Circumstances.  Between the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 financial years, the following was recorded:

• Carjacking decreased by 2.3%
• Robbery at residential premises decreased by 0.4%
• Robbery at non-residential premises decreased by 3.1%.

Under Contact Related Crimes, the following was recorded between the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 financial years:

• Arson decreased by 10.5%
• Malicious damage to property decreased by 4.2%

In terms of Property-Related Crime, the following was recorded between the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 financial years:

• Burglary at non-residential premises decreased by 5.8%
• Burglary at residential premises decreased by 7.5%
• Theft of motor vehicle and motorcycle decreased by 5.0%
• Theft out of or from motor vehicle decreased by 6.5%
• Stock theft increased by 7.2%

A comparison of the past two financial years, 2016/2017 and 2017/2018, in terms of Other Serious Crime revealed the following:

• All theft note mentioned elsewhere decreased by 7.8%
• Commercial crime decreased by 0.4%
• Shoplifting decreased by 7.8%

In terms of the second broad category, Crime Detected as a Result of Police Action are crimes usually not reported to the police but detected as a result of the deployment of law enforcement personnel and the employment of intelligence.  The crime is usually recorded after the apprehension of suspects in connection with the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, drug-related crimes, driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs and sexual offences detected as a result of police action.  It should be noted, that an increase in theses sub-categories is directly linked with police action. 

A comparison of the past two financial years, 2016/2017 and 2017/2018, in terms of Crimes Detected as a Result of Police Action revealed the following:

• Illegal possession of firearms and ammunition increased by 8.8%
• Drug-related crime increased by 10.5%
• Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs increased by 14.8%
• Sexual offences detected as a result of police action increased by 8.7%

The above is a broad overview of the crime statistics presented.

The crime statistics are available on the website of the South African Police Service - www.saps.gov.za

Ends.

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