Aggravated robbery was the only violent crime to show an increase over the past two financial years, national police commissioner Jackie Selebi announced on Monday.
Murders dropped by 9,9%, attempted murder by 17,8%, serious assault by 4,3%, common assault by 2,6% and common robbery by 7,8%, he told reporters in Pretoria.
Aggravated robbery showed an increase of 3,2% in the 2003/04 financial year compared to the previous year, but dropped by 11,1% in the first three months of 2004.
Selebi said not all kinds of aggravated robbery increased in the period under review. Street robberies and muggings were largely to blame.
Car hijackings dropped by eight percent, truck hijackings by 10,5%, cash-in-transit robberies by 49,7%, and bank robberies by 58,3%.
Regarding a 1,4% decrease in reported rape cases, Selebi said the figure was too marginal to indicate a success. More would be done to address this category of crime.
Unveiling the South African Police Service’s annual report, Selebi said property-related crimes were on the decrease.
Housebreaking at business premises dropped by 14,4%, theft out of and from motor vehicles by 14%, stock theft by 13,4%, residential housebreaking by 8,3%, car theft by 7,3%, and other theft by 4,2%. Commercial crime dropped by 2,6%.
On the rise, however, were drug-related crimes — up by 14,2%, the illegal possession of firearms (4,2%), shoplifting (2,1%) and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (10,1%).
Increases in crimes related to drugs, illegal firearm possession and driving under the influence should be seen as a positive development, as it indicated the police had been able to arrest more culprits, Selebi said.
The statistics overall, he said, showed that the police achieved ”significant successes towards a reduction of crime”.
Reported murder cases declined in all provinces except for the Eastern Cape — where it rose by 0,8%.
The most significant decrease was in the Western Cape (24,7%), followed by Gauteng (15,9%).
The crime of attempted murder decreased in all nine provinces. There were increases in rape in four provinces, Selebi said. The Eastern Cape reported a rise of 15,2%, the Northern Cape a rise of 4,4%, Mpumalanga a rise of 2,8% and the Free State of 1,9%.
Reported rape cases decreased in the other five provinces by between 2,5% and 8,3%.
Aggravated assault increased only in the Free State, by 1,5%. Selebi said violent attacks on the farming community had dropped by 14,4% and murders of farm dwellers by 14,6%.
”… the chances of violence against members of the farming community ending in murder have decreased by more than a third — 36% — over the years 1997/98 to 2003/04.”
The commissioner also announced a drop of 38,6% in escapes from police custody.
Turning to a mandate from President Thabo Mbeki to target the country’s top 200 criminals, Selebi said this task was well under way in cooperation with agencies like the prosecuting authority, the justice and home affairs departments, intelligence services and the SA Revenue Service.
Several individuals have been identified for their alleged involvement in two or more of the following crimes: cash-in-transit and bank robberies, arms smuggling, hijacking, taxi violence, serial rape and murder.
”Police work is going on with a view to immediate arrest.”
Many others were being targeted for their role in organised crime, with specific focus on syndicate leaders involved in offences like theft and smuggling of vehicles and precious metals, the illegal marketing of drugs, money laundering and the fraudulent production of identity documents and passports.
Several people were being investigated for commercial crimes involving millions of rands, while a small number of suspects have been identified in connection with crimes threatening the security of the country.
The commissioner said major successes have been recorded on the president’s mandate, but would not give figures.
He insisted that crime statistics would not be published quarterly as widely requested, but would be retained in the current yearly format.
As to providing suburb-by-suburb statistics, this would pose ”a very big difficulty”.
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula welcomed the latest figures.
”I am satisfied that we are doing the best we can and that best is translating into a reduction of crime in South Africa.” – Sapa