Police around Gauteng reported a quiet Christmas this week, with no major crimes having occurred around the province.
The provincial spokesperson for Gauteng, Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini, said the only serious incidents over the Christmas period were four family-related murders. There were not many robberies.
He attributed this to communities’ vigilance and increased police presence over the festive season.
Crime in general over the Christmas period seems to have decreased since last year, he said.
Although less serious crime such as housebreaking, theft and hijacking did occur, Dlamini could not contrast this year to last year. He could not give out statistics before they were audited but said: “There were no really serious incidences such as cash-in-transit heists. This festive season was quiet.”
The number of Incidences of family murders during the festive season has stabilised, Dlamini says. Two incidences of family violence were reported in Pretoria and two on the Vaal Rand, as well as one gang fight on the East Rand.
But, People Opposing Women Abuse say that calls have doubled since December 15. Nomsa Papale, a counselling centre manager, told the Mail & Guardian that there has been a lot of abuse. The Stop Women Abuse helplines are receiving about 1Â 000 abuse calls a day, many of which are economical abuse and physical abuse, due largely to the misuse of alcohol.
Lisa Vetten, gender coordinator for the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation said domestic violence tends to increase over the holiday period as families spend more time together than they normally would.
“There are so many more opportunities than when people are at work. There are more opportunities for conflict to arise,” she says.
The Christmas festive season is also a time when there is more opportunity to drink. Vetten says many people claim that they were not aware of their actions as they were drunk at the time.
“Drinking is not the cause of violence, but it can be a great problem as some people drink to get up the courage for abuse. It’s a great excuse.”
The festive season is traditionally the time when jealousy accusations arise, as there are more office parties, she said.
But, it is impossible to say whether there has been an increase or decline in family violence this year compared with last year, Vetten said.
“The vast majority of domestic violence never gets reported to the police. There is a perception that the police will not do anything effective — so there is no point.”
Generally there is an increase in violence over weekends and the end of the month as money issues are a major source of arguments, she said.
Julia Zacharis, general manager for the South African Depression and Anxiety Group, said 1% of its calls come from people who are planning on killing their families and then themselves.
Reasons range from untreated postnatal depression to financial problems, she said. People may want to kill themselves due to a lack of money and then kill the rest of the family.
The intention of the deceased can be difficult to determine.
“It is difficult to assess whether it is a suicide or a mass murder … for example the head of the household will shoot himself and luckily will not take the whole family with him,” Zacharis said.