DESPITE the decrease of murder incidents in Gauteng, the province continues to swim in a pool of blood.
Most of these murders were as a result of arguments, misunderstanding, road rage, provocation, robbery, vigilantism and mob attacks.
Some of these murders happened in public spaces, residential areas or liquor outlets, with firearms, knives and sharp objects frequently used.
Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela revealed this on Tuesday, 29 August, during his presentation of the province’s crime statistics for the first quarter of the 2023 and 2024 financial year.
Mawela’s report focused on Gauteng’s crime statistics from April to June.
In his report, Mawela said for the first time after the Covid-19 period, the province has observed a reduction of murder incidents.
Although the reduction is by a small margin, Mawela said it's still important for the province because every win counts.
“Even though such reduction may be meaningless to the families of the 1 489 people, inclusive of 167 women and 47 children, killed during the quarter under review,” he said.
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Mawela also noted with concern the rapid killings of police officers.
To date, 12 police officers were killed, eight off-duty and four on-duty.
On the issue of these killings, Mawela said they had intensified efforts to capacitate the police with the necessary resources and training and to be mentally ready to execute their combat duties.
Mawela said where overall crime is concerned for the quarter, there has been an increase of 4%, which translates to 4 022 counts more as compared to the same period in 2022.
He said Gauteng contributed 27,9% to the national’s overall crime statistics for the first quarter.
“We were able to maintain the provincial contribution at an average of 27% over five years, which have since observed a slight reduction of 0,4 percentage points between 2019 and 2023 from 28,3% to 27,9%, which is equivalent to 10 170 counts less.
“In terms of percentage reduction, this might seem insignificant from a point of view of ordinary citizens of this province, especially the actual victims of crime. To us as law enforcers, any reduction is welcomed," Mawela said.
At the same time, common assaults and the intent to cause grievous bodily harm continue to be the main contributors to overall contact crime as it has now shown an increase of 11,3% and 7,8%, respectively.
