Whilst releasing the latest Crime Statistics, the Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa, said; “The 2010/11 financial year crime statistics confirm our assertion that indeed the tide against crime is turning and that police, joined by society are gaining an upper hand against vicious criminals.”
The Eastern Cape crime statistics (per 100 000 people) are reflected in the table below:
The Crime Statistics for South Africa reflect the following:
SMILE Statistics:
- Decrease in Contact Crime (Crimes against the person): Contact crime is an area of crime which by its nature leads to serious feelings of fears of insecurity because it is this form of crime with which violence is normally associated. This contact crime also accounts for roughly one third of all crimes.
- Decrease in Trio Crimes: Linked to the decrease in contact crime are the successes achieved with regard to the trio crimes (that is house robberies, business robberies and vehicles hijacking) with a 10,7% decrease in trio crimes.
- Decrease in Murder: Murder is one of the most reliable form of crime statistics and during 2010/11 the figure has dropped below the 16 000 figure; with 15 940 cases being recorded. The murder ratio decreased by 6,5%.
- Decrease in Attempted Murder: During the 2010/11 financial year, attempted murder decreased by 12,2%.
- Decrease in Sexual Offences: The sexual offences ratio decreased by 3,1%. The number of reported cases of rape still remains unacceptably high; especially in lieu of the fact that such crimes have a lifetime negative on victims.
- Decrease in Assault with intent to inflict GBH: During the 2010/11 financial year, we have seen a further decrease with a 4,5% ratio on the assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm.
- Decrease in Aggravated Robberies: During the current fiscal the robbery with aggravating circumstances ratio decreased by 12,0%.
- Decrease in House Robberies: During the 2010/11 financial year for the first time in since 2004 the number of recorded cases started to decline significantly, with a 10,1%, from 18 786 reported cases last year to 16 889 cases for the fiscal under review.
- Decrease in Car Hijackings: For the first time in eight years the figure has dropped below 10 700. For the 2010/11 financial year, car hijacking decreased by 23,6%.
- Decrease in Truck Hijackings: During the 2010/11 financial year, truck hijackings decreased by 29,2% with 413 cases recorded in comparison with a 1,7% the previous financial year of 2009/10.
- Decrease in Burglary at Residential Premises: For the financial year 2010/11, the burglary at residential premises ratio decreased by 4,8%.
- Decrease in Cash-In-Transit: A massive decrease of 18,7% for the 2010/11 financial year, from 7,3% in the 2009/10 financial year.
- Decrease in Bank Robbery: Bank robbery decreased by 58,1% with 93 cases recorded in 2009/10 to 39 for the 2010/11 financial year.
- Decrease in Stock Theft: A decline of 8,2% in the number of reported cases of stock theft during the 2010/11 financial year.
- Decrease in illegal possession of firearms and ammunition: A decrease of 2,0% during the financial year 2010/11.
- Decrease in Police Deaths: In this financial year, 2010/11 there was a slight decrease as the SAPS lost 94 police officers in comparison to the loss of 110 in 2009/10.
- Arrest of 49 of the top 50 most wanted criminals
FROWN Statistics:
- Increase in Rape: Rape increased from 55 097 to 56 272 cases.
- Increase in Non-Residential Robberies: For the 2010/11 financial year, there was a 0,9% increase in non-residential, particularly on smaller businesses, spaza shops, super markets, taverns, schools and general dealers.
- Increase in ATM Blasts: ATM bombings increased by 61,5%, from 247 recorded cases in 2009/10 to 399 in the 2010/11 financial year.
- Increase in Drug-related Crimes: The drug-related crime ratio increased by 10,2% in the 2010/11 financial year.
- Increase in cases of Drunken Driving: In the 2010/11 financial year, an increase of 4,5%.
- Increase in Commercial Crime: The commercial crime ratio increased by 2,8% for the 2010/11 financial year.
