Police Minister Bheki Cele

Police Minister Bheki Cele is painting a bleak picture for the future of South Africa, saying that murders have increased by 1.4% in the current financial year. According to the latest crime statistics, 21,022 murders were recorded for the 2018/2019 financial year. The figure was 686 more than the previous year. Sexual offences increased by 4.6%, robberies at residential properties increased by 0.8% while there was a decrease in drug-related crimes.

While all the provinces recorded increases in contact crimes, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape and Gauteng recorded the highest volumes of these. In other figures, crimes against women decreased by 5.4%, child murders and sexual offences against children increased, while 47 farm murders were also recorded.