Crime Stats; with Minister and Deputy Minister

Meeting report

The Chairperson welcomed the Minister, Deputy Minister, Members and National Commissioner. There was one item on the agenda for the day - the presentation on the 2019 crime statistics. The presentation would be delivered and then questions from the Members would be allowed. The Minister would be conducting a press briefing immediately afterwards at 10h00.

Minister of Police Introductory Remarks

Minister Bheki Cele prefaced the presentation by saying the statistics were not very rosy but the National Commissioner would work on this together with his Generals. Generally, the emphasis of the stats is on murder, sexual offences and the legitimacy or authenticity of the stats itself. The stats have been signed and approved by the Statistician-General. Since 2011, the SA Police Service (SAPS) has been working with StatsSA.

Remarks by the National Commissioner of Police

Gen. Khela Sitole confirmed that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the National Commissioner and Statistician-General where the stats were declared official.

Police-Recorded Crime Statistics Financial Year 2018/19

Maj. Gen. Norman Sekhukhune, SAPS Component Head: Crime Registrar, took the Committee through the presentation beginning with an overview for the period under review. During this time:

- 21 022 reported murders were committed which is an increase of 3.4% compared to the previous financial year

-52 420 reported sexual offences (rape, sexual assault, attempted sexual offences and contact sexual offences) which is an increase of 4.6% compared to the previous financial year 

-18 980 reported cases of attempted murder which is an increase of 4.1% compared to the previous financial year

-170 797 reported cases of assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm which is an increase of 2.2% compared to the previous financial year

-162 012 reported cases of common assault which is an increase of 3.7% compared to the previous financial year

-51 764 reported cases of common robbery which is an increase of 2.0% compared to the previous financial year

-140 032 reported cases of robbery with aggravating circumstances (carjacking, robbery at residential premises, robbery at non-residential premises, robbery of cash-in-transit, bank robbery, truck hijacking) which is an increase of 1.2% compared to the previous financial year

The cases of aggravated robbery all decreased compared to the previous financial year except for robbery at residential premises (up by 0.8%).

-117 172 reported cases of contact-related crime (arson and malicious damage to property) which is an increase of 1.6% compared to the previous financial year

-495 161 reported cases of property-related crimes (burglary at residential, burglary at non-residential premises, theft of motor vehicle, theft out of or from motor vehicle, stock theft) which is a decrease of 2.5% compared to the previous financial year

-444 447 other serious reported crimes (all theft not mentioned elsewhere, commercial crime, shoplifting) which is an increase of 1.4% compared to the previous financial year

-1 673 990 of 17 community reported serious crimes which is an increase of 0.7% compared to the previous financial year

-339 281 total crime detected as a result of police actions (illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, drug-related crime, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, sexual offences detected as a result of police action) which is a decrease of 21.8%

Percentage contribution per crime category to the 17 community-reported crimes

Maj. Gen. Sekhukhune said there were 1 673 990 of 17 community-reported serious crimes – the largest category contribution to this number was contact crime (36.9%) followed by property-related crimes (29.6%), other serious crimes (26.6%) and contact-related crime (7%)

Looking at crime detected as result of police action, there were 339 281– the largest category contribution to this number was drug-related crime (68.6%), driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (24.4%), illegal possession of firearms and ammunition (4.6%) and sexual offences detected as a result of police action (2.4%).

In terms of a three-year comparison of the overview of the 17 community-reported serious crimes, contact crime, contact-related crime and other serious crimes increased during the financial year under review while property-related crime decreased. There was also an increase in the 17 community-reported serious crimes.

In terms of a three-year comparison of the overview of contact crimes, there was an increase during the period under review for murder, sexual offences, attempted murder, assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, common assault, common robbery, robbery with aggravating circumstances and contact crimes (crimes against the person). With murder, it was observed that 12 390 (60%) of the 21 022 murders committed in 2018/19 occurred over the weekend (Friday – Sunday). If murders on Mondays were added, this would amount to 14 796 (70% of total number of murders during the financial year under review).  3 567 of these murders happened between Saturday 19h00 and Sunday 03h00. This could point to higher intake of alcohol and drugs. 7 176 of these murders were committed with firearms, 4 720 with knives, 1 552 by sharp instruments. Looking at attempted murder, most causes were the same as murder and there were similar patterns in terms of the days and time and weapon used in attempted murder except for the Northern Cape where most attempted murder was carried out by a knife.

Maj. Gen. Sekhukhune then looked at the trend over ten years for murder, in 2008/09 there were 18 084 but this was reduced over a three-year period however increases were observed in 2011/12. In the previous financial year there was an increase of 1 320 murders but this number has halved considering the increase in the current financial year of only a 686 increase in murders.

Looking at the provincial comparison of contact crimes, all provinces had experienced increases. The highest volumes were recorded in KZN, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng. Taking into consideration that these provinces are the most populous, this might be an indication of the amount of people who could fall victim to crime and not necessarily the intensity or actual number of crimes in that particular province.  For example, Gauteng has the highest number of ATM, cars and business therefore the increased volume of crimes in this province.

Of the top 30 stations for contact crimes, 16 are located in Gauteng, eight in the Western Cape, four in KZN and one each respectively in the Free State and Mpumalanga.

Turning to trio crimes, these involve carjacking, robbery residential and robbery at non-residential premises. Gauteng, Western Cape and Limpopo have experienced decreases in trio crimes for the period under review – the other provinces experienced increases. For the top 30 stations for trio crimes, 19 were located in Gauteng, seven in Western Cape, two in KZN and one each in Mpumalanga and Eastern Cape.

The presentation turned to contact crimes committed against women. There was a decrease in murder, sexual offences, and attempted murder while there were increases in assault with the intent to do Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) and common assault. There was an increase in all the categories of contact crimes committed against children. Looking at the crimes against children it was observed some of the murders committed against children are committed by other children themselves – 736 murders were carried out by children in 2018/19. 4 196 common assault was carried out by children in the year under review. Causative factors stem from misunderstandings and domestic violence. Again, most murders occurred over the weekend especially during the late hours of the evening or early hours of the morning. Approximately 46 000 assault Grievous bodily harm (GBH) were caused by domestic violence or misunderstanding/arguments. 1 727 murders were caused by arguments/misunderstanding while 1 115 murders were as a result of domestic violence. Misunderstandings/arguments and domestic violence occurs mostly behind doors amongst people who know each other. There were 1 120 gang-related murders while 751 murders emanated from armed robbery. 256 murders occurred as a result of revenge, 321 murders caused by taxi violence, 62 murders caused by illegal mining, 40 murders caused by factions/intra or intergroup conflict and eight murders were politically-related. 

Maj. Gen. Sekhukhune then looked at the murders of police officials and farm murders. In 2018/19, 28 police officials were murdered while on duty (most occurred in Gauteng) and 49 were murdered off-duty, mostly in KZN. 47 murders occurred on farms or smallholdings in 2018/19 – 22 murders occurred during robbery at the residential premises. There were seven attempted murders, two assault GBH and one stock theft.

In terms of a broad overview of property-related crimes over two financial years, burglary at non-residential premises and stock theft increased while burglary at residential premises, theft of motor vehicle and motorcycle and theft out of or from motor vehicle increased.  It was concerning that stock theft increased in all provinces over the two financial years – the number of animals stolen extends into the millions. Livestock is used as a type of bank for people in poor and rural areas where animals were sold to pay for children to attend school so the increase in the crime is concerning. Stock theft requires more focus to bring the numbers down.

Discussion

Minister Cele said that a high number of murders were perpetrated by people known to the victim. An example is a current case in Mpumalanga where four children were murdered by their mother. SAPS is looking at having different codes to differentiate these cases. It is difficult for the police to police cases where perpetrators are known by the victim. For example, crimes of passion are where a wife or husband murders their spouse. These cases push up the number of murders reflected in the stats. It would be useful to collaborate with sociologists and psychologists to understand the causation and why people behave on weekends “as if they just came from the moon”. Often people acted very differently on the weekend compared to the rest of the week and some assistance to look into the reason for this is required. SAPS extends an open invitation to all to assist in such matters going forward.

Mr A Whitfield (DA) did not think there was a single person in the room not upset at the results, which the Minister also acknowledged as not being great. The stats are cause for very serious concern. In his State of the Nation Address, the President committed that over the next ten years, violent crime will be halved. What interventions does SAPS have in place to deal with this commitment? There remains an increase in violent crimes - although there was a reduction in murders, there was an increase overall. What are the causes of the increase of murders since 2012? More information is needed on the crimes detected as a result of police action e.g. sexual offences detected as a result of police action – what does this actually mean? What did the police do in these instances to detect these crimes and prevent them? Why was there an overall decline in the crime detected as a result of police action? Was it lack of visible policing or human resources? The Committee also has a responsibility to ensure different results are seen in the next year,

Mr O Terbanche (DA) noted that part of the problem might be that the stats were as of March 2019 so there are not more recent stats. This means one does not know what is actually happening. He was thinking of the crime wave in the Western Cape as an example of this.  Nowhere in the world would one find completely accurate crime stats – the closest might be 60% reliability. The most reliable category is the murder rate. The murder rate presented today is really alarming. The most accurate crime stats are only reported crime.  To what extent has the police directed its resources to deal with murder? It was stated most murders were committed over weekends but often the majority of the police sat at home over the weekend.

Ms J Mofokeng (ANC) found it clear from the presentation that there was a “war against women” and so the fight must be intensified. In 2011/12, crime decreased but then suddenly it changed – what happened during this time? Looking at domestic violence and argument/misunderstanding as a causative factor, information is required on the domestic violence register in police stations. Are these registers working? How many stations are using them? Why is there no register of protection orders? Often the female victims start at the police, go to court, return to the police but then end up dead.

Dr P Groenewald (FF+) also found the figures alarming. Looking at the total of contact crimes alone, there are more than 617 000 cases and this figure was increasing. It is also the seventh consecutive year in which murder increased. Looking at sexual offences, one must remember this is not the full picture of what actually happens as many of these crimes are not reported. The problem is then much worse than what is reported. It is clear that SA is a violent country and drastic steps will have to be taken. More clarity was required on the number of farm murders i.e. 47 counts vs. 41 incidents. Clarity was also required on the causative factors of contact crime and the number attached– what other factors are there which give rise to murders?

Ms Z Majozi (IFP) said there is a concerning increase in crime as reflected in the stats. The fear of women and children being killed is not going anywhere any time soon - this is concerning given that just this past week, more women and children were killed.  What is the strategy of the police to eradicate drug lords? This fundamental problem must be dealt with given that the Minister said people act as if they come from the moon over the weekend and indulge in drugs.  There are clear distinctions in the crime stats between the provinces – what is the Department doing about it? One should talk about the decentralisation of power so that provinces can deal with their own problems on their own merits as they understand their own problems and understand what they are dealing with. It is clear there must be more deployment of police over the weekend to raid the streets – this could lead to decreases in reported crimes. Perhaps the strategy to use to decrease some of the categories of the trio crimes can be implemented in the other categories of crime to find a way of moving forward.

Mr T Mafanya (EFF) noted that over the past ten years, there were almost 200 000 murders. This is a sign that SA is a country at war with itself. He proposed there be security cluster summit as it was quite clear the police alone could not deal decisively with crime. There should be an inter-departmental approach to crime.

The Chairperson said that due to the lack of time, SAPS did not need to respond to each question individually but could provide an overall summary of responses. There would be further, more in-depth engagement on the stats next Wednesday.

Minister Cele agreed that more in-depth engagement would do the matter more justice. He referred to the slide detailing the trend for murder over ten years. Stats for murder only occurred after the beginning of the democratic dispensation. The Minister was told the first figure for murders was 31 000. The trend should be a decrease by 1 000 each year but this trend was broken in 2009/10 when there was a decrease of 2 000 in murders from 2008/09. This decrease was sustained and if the trend was fully sustained, there would be 7 000 murders in the financial year under review. One must look at what happened in 2012 and thereafter. In the previous financial year there was an increase of 1 320 murders but this number has been halved considering the increase in the current financial year of only a 686 increase in murders. Unfortunately, one was not talking about Rands and cents but human lives – one murder was too many. However, if this trend was maintained, one might be able to go back to the good days. There is no doubt that there are good practices which were dropped – these practices need to be picked up and added to going forward.

The Minister said the cluster believed ten years is too long to halve violent crime - it can be done if one returned to the tried and tested methodologies where everyone worked together. This is achievable and has been done before – “we need to go back there”.

The Minister said he was told that SA is the only country in Africa that produced crime stats – this would make comparison difficult. SA needs to work on the understanding of what it wants to achieve. The three major issues are women issues, which are bad, lives lost, which is bad, and the fear factor, for example house robberies. In some house robberies, the criminals waited for the people to come inside or leave the house. This fear sits with South Africans as the barrel of the gun touches their face in such cases.

The Chairperson thanked the Minister and the police who served SA and its communities. The Committee believed that what was achieved before was during the time the Minister was the police Commissioner. The Committee has all the confidence that as he leads the team, the Minister has the experience, ability and political will to take the country forward. The Committee cannot accept that the crime stats are this bad. Crimes against women, children and the general population is worsening. This kind of lawlessness should have no place in SA. There should also be no place where police do not serve communities. This is the first time that almost all violent crimes have increased. The Committee is committed to doing oversight and will work hard in supporting the Minister, Deputy Minister, Commissioner and SAPS to ensure everyone works as a team and that no stone is left unturned in fighting the scourge of crime in the country. The President said crime is an act of violence against humanity. The Committee works with the President and will work with SAPS to ensure this situation does not continue unabated. She wished the Minister well and knew the country was in good hands.

The meeting was adjourned.