Briefing on the Crime Statistics

Journalist: Minister, are you disappointed in the results? It seemed that many of the targets in the strategic plan had not been met. Minister Mthethwa: responded that there would always be disappointment in the fight against crime. There were always people who from a perception point of view did not feel safe. Whilst there had been a downward trend in the fight against crime it still remained an ongoing concern. There would always be issues in terms of crime and different categories of crime. As long as there were feelings of uncertainty the work was ongoing. There was no one in the world that could say ‘we had arrived’ in terms of crime. It was an ongoing struggle. Journalist: What is the exact number of murders for the financial year and the exact number of murders of rapes for the financial year? Lieutenant-General Mzwandile Petros: replied the raw figures would be available on the website. Journalist: Could General Petros provide the figures now so that the media could have this on the record. Minister Mthethwa: replied that if the numbers were here then people would see them, if they were not here then they would not see them. The numbers would be seen later. Journalist: The numbers had been on the slide but could it be stated on the record as well? Journalist: Although crime was down what were successful convictions looking like? How was the role that detectives and SAPS members played in gathering good evidence and other work being improved? Minister Mthethwa: replied that the issue of convictions was dependant on the entire criminal justice system value chain being on board. In some instances we had police doing their work only to find that the work was derailed somewhere else in the value chain. The reverse was also true. It was an area that highlighted the integrated approach by government in the fight against crime. In the year under review there was the hope to see more successes especially in terms of sexual offences. A conscious decision had been made to re-establish the Family Violence, Sexual Offences and Child Protection Unit (FCS) due to the nature of the crime. It was the sort of crime that affected vulnerable people. The personalised crimes were the ones that made people feel very unsafe. There was a need to look to the strategy and see what needed to be done. General Phiyega: replied it had been indicated that this would be the year of detectives and there was a focus on the training and equipping of detectives both technologically and systematically from a systems perspectives. This would allow them to do the work they were supposed to do as the work of police was to investigate effectively. The rest of the work was for the courts. Collaboration and collective intervention would improve the work done. Journalist: Was there one section of crime that stuck out as needing urgent attention, where there had been an increase and needed to be looked into? General Phiyega: replied that the area around trio crimes required urgent attention. The outlying areas seen in the provinces were areas that were being looked into and analysed. Collectively there would be an identification of innovative interventions that could be put in place to attack those stubborn problems. Journalist: Were there corresponding figures going back to 2008/2009 for the pie chart that showed the number of murders? General Petros: replied that the information would be available on the internet. Other pie charts would need to be drawn up by the people who needed them and SAPS would help if asked. These ones had been drawn up to show specific patterns. The website was saps.gov.za Journalist: About the Western Cape gangster revolution, the Minister had indicated that the army and other measures were not necessary as the situation was under control and the police was tackling it. But it had been said that the matter had gone up by 45% in the past year, was this having the matter under control? Minister Mthethwa: replied that this issue was one that needed a lot of planning. It needed a multi disciplinary approach. In most cases where these crimes took place there were deep-seated and underlying social economic challenges that needed to be taken on board. If it was the case that whenever a crime went up and army was called, the country would not be where it was now. Crimes had gone up and had been attended to in a scientific way and there had been changes witnessed. An example was the rise of cash in transit crimes and ATM bombings. These acts involved highly trained criminals who executed their crimes with military precision but the army had not been called. There had instead been a partnership. Journalist: Were statistics audited independently? General Petros: replied that the raw figures analysed had been handled by the Department’s division, Crime Intelligence, through the Crime Research and Statistics Unit. The Department did not audit the figures independently but there was the involvement of the internal audit as well as the Auditor General in auditing the predetermined outcomes. The Department also collaborated with Stats SA particularly looking at some of the forward looking initiatives on shaping our national reporting of statistics. This was a practice that had continued over the years. Journalist: The Auditor General looked at the overall situation within the police. The answer given had not been satisfactory. What verification process was there to make sure these figures were correct? What processes were there for researchers and statisticians? Minister Mthethwa: replied that the reporter in question had been asking this for some time and he did not feel that it would get anywhere. The answer had been given and over a period of time the same question had been given. The Department was repeating themselves and would continue to do so. Could other questions be asked? Journalist: Was the decrease in sexual offences because there was less instances due to police action or because less people reported the offences as they did not trust the police? Minister Mthethwa: replied that SAPS still believed there were people not reporting these crimes for whatever reason. Sometimes for reasons such as in the past they had been disappointed by how the matter had been handled. However people did report the cases. The Department had been going around to the provinces checking what FCS was doing. The last province had been Limpopo. The life sentences given to people had not been the work of the police alone. People were becoming more and more conscious and reporting these matters. The integrated approach within government meant everyone saw this as an important area of focus. A great deal of work was being done and other areas were being looked at to make sure the issue was being tackled. Journalist: Could we have the number of people who had been sentenced on convicted of physical crimes such as rape sexual assault and other sexually related crimes? Journalist: Will there be a period in South Africa where the police focused on farm murders separately from other sorts of murders? Minister Mthethwa: replied the Department had decided to take an approach that involved everybody. These were rural areas as farms were not found in big cities. The issue of stock theft did not happen only in farms but rural areas in general. The issue here was competency. If one looked at the rural areas and looked only at farms then a larger part of society was being left out. Journalist: Was the Minister concerned by allegations made by people such as Julius Malema that he might be assassinated and the like? Some people did not have faith in police. Minister Mthethwa: replied he was unable to comment on the thoughts of some individuals who had no consequence to the crime statistics. Journalist: Were there figures that showed the correlation between stock theft and farm murders? Minister Mthethwa: stated that this correlation was not in all cases. There were instances where people targeted farms. The statistics of the farm murders had been shared and disaggregated a few years back and had showed how some of the murders had happened. Most had happened due to labour disputes. Journalist: Had the rural safety strategy not been working as there was now a call for ‘practical implementation’? Minister Mthethwa: replied that it was more about getting practical results out of the strategy. Journalist: In terms of the breaking up of murders, could General Petros state what the ‘other’ section of the pie chart was? General Petros: replied that these came from various sources and could even include acts such as poison. Any other matter was covered here. Journalist: Could we have the stats on farm related murders? Minister Mthethwa: said that there had never been a category on farm killings nor one on informal settlement killings. Journalist: Looking across the provinces, had there been some that had had a marked increase or decrease? Journalist: Could we please actual figures on rape/murder? General Petros: replied that raw figures were available on the website and the figure seen here was the figure pertaining to murder. Figures concerning rape could be found on the website. The figure for murder was 15 609. Rape was not a separate it was shown with sexual offences, a breakdown could be found on the website. The presentation did not speak to raw figures but per capita. Journalist: Which province had the highest rate of crime when it came to contact crime? Which police station had the highest rate of contact crime? General Petros: replied this information was on the website. The outliers had been spoken to in terms of specific crimes. The media briefing ended.

Remarks by the Minister of Police, EN Mthethwa, MP, on the occasion of the release of the 2011/12 SAPS National Crime Statistics, Parliament, Cape Town 20 Sep 2012 Deputy Minister of Police, Ms MM Sotyu All MECs responsible for policing present Acting Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ms A Van Wyk National Commissioner of Police, General MV Phiyega All SAPS Lieutenant Generals, Senior Officers and Staff present Civilian Secretary for Police, Ms J Irish-Qhobosheane CEO of Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority, Mr M Chauke Acting Executive Director of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, Ms K Mbeki Representatives from Statistics South Africa, CPFs, Business, Policing Unions, Research and Academic Institutions, Civic Organisations present Distinguished Guests Members of the Media Ladies and Gentlemen The release of the South African Police Service (SAPS) crime statistics for the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 is a duty that must be understood by society as a reflection on the work done in the fight against crime. The crime statistics that we are sharing with the nation this morning indicate a mixed bag with marginal downward trends in some of the crime categories. Where government succeeds, we will continue to draw from the lessons and replicate in other areas. Where government is not pleased, we will re-commit ourselves to creating a safer South Africa. When it comes to our commitment in fighting crime – we remain unshaken. In dealing with these challenges, we further draw inspiration from Gallileo Galilei who said, quote: ‘All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. By denying scientific principles, one may maintain any paradox. Facts which at first seem improbable will, even on scant explanation, drop the cloak which has hidden them and stand forth in naked and simple beauty.’ As we did the previous past two years, we also engaged a number of different role-players to compare their experiences with regard to certain crime types. We have noted that there is convergence on our crime statistics with various independent stakeholders, especially in relation to sectors such as business, tracking and insurance. All percentage increases and decreases are calculated on the basis of ratios per 100 000 of the population (per capita figures) in line with international practice. This is done to equalise our population growth and be able to scientifically compare provinces different sizes with each other. All the figures will be available on the SAPS website. Decrease in contact crimes (Crimes against the person) Seven categories of serious crimes are grouped together as contact crime. In fact all seven categories of contact crime witnessed a decline (this refers to murder, attempted murder, sexual offenses, assault grievous bodily harm, assault common, aggravated robbery and common robbery). The crimes in question accounted for 29,9% of South Africa’s recorded serious crimes; such crimes involve physical contact (usually violent and coercive nature) between the perpetrators and their victims. We are encouraged that all provinces with the exception of Free State, Limpopo and Western Cape, experienced a decline in this form of crime. In the 2010/11 financial year, contact crime decreased by 6,9% and for the financial year under review, we recorded a decrease of 3,5%. Contact crime has been significantly reduced by 35,5% from 2004/05 to 2011/12. Decrease in murder Murder is one of the most reliable trends of crime statistics. During 2011/12 we recorded a decrease by 3,1%. We are encouraged to see the murder ratio a further decrease in a long line of decreases which still contributes to the systematic and almost constant decrease in murders since the dawn of democracy, despite South Africa’s 30% population growth. In 2004/05 there were over 18 000 murder cases recorded and this figure only began to go below 16 000 in 2009/10; when this current administration took over. This translates to a 27,6% reduction in murder over an 8 year period (2004/05 – 2011/12). Research conducted by Crime Research and Statistics of the SAPS indicated that approximately 65% of murders started off as assaults resulting from interpersonal arguments, which were often further stimulated by alcohol and drug abuse. To this end, we are also encouraged by the continued decrease we experienced in the following crime categories during the 2011/12 financial year: • Attempted Murder decreased by 5,2% • Assault Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) decreased by 4,2% • Common Assault decreased by 3,4% One of the shifts that we have witnessed is that although crimes against women and children are decreasing, we are now seeing a trend where young children are now being targeted and abused. We shall be intensifying the war against young children to ensure that this trend is reversed.A greater and growing awareness among parents/guardians that children should be looked after and protected, must be considered. Decrease in sexual offences One area that still remains stubbornly high is around sexual offences. The decrease should be understood in perspective, that as government we still remain concerned about the conviction rate of criminals who commit such crimes. For the 2011/12 financial year, the sexual offences ratio decreased by 3,7%. We need to emphasise that as government we are however, still concerned about the scourge of rape in our country. Rape decreased by 1,9% but it is unacceptably high. More resources and better training of police mechanisms are now being put in place. To a large extent we do admit that this is one challenging category for police to police.It is also influenced by a reporting behaviour, if victims trust the police, then you will get more reporting. So the issue of under-reporting remains a challenge and not just in South Africa but internationally. We took a decision in 2009 to re-establish the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units.This decision was informed by the challenges that women, children and the elderly in our country continue to face in this democratic dispensation. Over the last two years since its re-launching this unit has trained specialised officers to deal with these heinous crimes. In the new police stations that we build and those that are refurbished, we must ensure that there are special dedicated areas for the victims of such crimes. A working relationship with the Judiciary has been established to have such cases prioritised. The correctness of the decision we took in the past few years is indicated in the major victories that this unit has managed to score over the last two years. Amongst the victories, the FCS units can claim the following: • In the cases where it involves the children under the age of eighteen, the unit has secured convictions that resulted in total of 10 345 years for those criminals. In the same age group, it has managed to secure 175 life sentences for these crimes. • In cases where it involves victims that are eighteen years and older, the units have secured convictions that resulted in total of 10 854 years of imprisonment. In the same age category it has managed to secure 131 life sentences. This excludes the cases that are in the court roll still awaiting finalisation. The important struggle we must continue to wage, is to end violence against women, a critical part of the historic effort to change the power relations in our society. Decrease in organised crime (carjacking, cash-in-transit, and bank robbery) The most highly organised forms of aggravated robbery, namely carjacking, cash-in-transit, bank robbery have experienced decreases.Some of the factors that have contributed to these decreases include the implementation of the provincial operational centres (War Rooms) in some provinces. Decrease in car hijackings For the 2010/11 financial year, car hijacking decreased by 23,6%. We are pleased that strategies that have been put in place over the past three years continue to yield results. To this end, for the period 2011/12, car hijacking further decreased by 11,9%. Both motor vehicle theft and carjacking are more organised in nature and frequently linked to the export of stolen or hijacked vehicles across the borders of the Republic of South Africa.But we are encouraged by the work done by the crime intelligence, working with various SAPS units, and this collaboration resulted in a number of arrests thus disrupting and halting some of these syndicates. Decrease in cash-in-transit For the 2011/12 financial year we are pleased to announce a 37,5% decrease in cash-in-transit. This is indeed encouraging.As we highlighted such progress can to a large extent be attributed to better coordination and information-sharing between the SAPS and the various role-players. Decrease in bank robberies In the 2011/12 financial year, bank robberies decreased by 10,3%. We reiterate that such declines were not achieved through sheer luck but through well-coordinated planning, partnerships with the Business and Banking sectors and we shall continue to sustain these partnerships. Aggravated robberies Aggravated robbery is the second-largest generator of other contact crimes, particularly attempted murder and murder because victims are sometimes killed or seriously injured during such robberies. We are encouraged by the constant decline in aggravated robberies over the last three years. During the 2010/11 the robbery with aggravating circumstances ratio decreased by 12,0% and for 2011/12 we have witnessed a 1,4% decrease. We have to say upfront we are unhappy with this reversal and shall be paying attention to this category. Part of the strategies we have now put in place include a stabilisation and reduction of business robberies, sustained reduction of house and public robberies as well as gains made in combating the more organised forms of aggravated robberies. Work is also underway to strengthen and where appropriate, formalise relationships with various stakeholders, with a view to tapping into the diverse skills to enhance capacity and ensure coordinated effort in tackling challenges and blockages. Decrease in common robberies We are further encouraged of a 4,6% decrease which was recorded in 2011/12. The significant downward trend which has been witnessed over an 8 year period, shows a reduction of 40,9% over a period of 5 years, with an average reduction of 8,2%. To sustain this reduction, we continue to upskill and capacitate our detective services. This includes not only increasing the number of detectives but also the quality of those we recruit. Decrease in two of the trio crimes We have recorded decreases in two of the trio crimes for the financial year 2011/12. • Carjacking decreased by 11,9% • House robberies decreased by 1,9% • However, business robberies increased by 7,5% Our operational analysis at police station level confirmed that police visibility at the right times, right places and employing right tactics, could decrease trio crimes significantly, especially business robberies. High police visibility increases the risks run by robbers, for example, decreasing the reaction time of the police or shifting the robbers’ operations to areas they are not familiar with. The seriousness with which government views crimes against small business, requires a comprehensive and holistic strategy to ensure that the phenomenon is addressed in all its dimensions. We need to implement a shared vision, a collective and integrated approach, business involvement and participation and improved crime-prevention. We have now finalised a strategy to combat and reduce robberies at small business and through the Civilian Secretariat of Police; we will be engaging relevant parties to ensure the implementation of the strategy within the next few weeks. In dealing with house robberies, we must put in place various systems, particularly as this is in line with the first victims of crime survey done by Statistics South Africa; which revealed that the two crimes most feared by South Africans are house robbery and housebreaking. Decrease in burglary at residential premises The impact of urbanisation, unemployment, poverty, growing material needs, alcohol and substance abuse are among the conditions that contribute to socially determined contact crimes. Although marginal, we have seen a decrease in the 2011/12 financial year, with a 2,0% decrease. It is further encouraging that burglary residential was reduced by 24,8% from 2004/05 to 2011/12, which is an 8-year period. The burglars either take items for their own consumption or use, or to sell these for the cash necessary to address their own needs. As we stated during the announcement last year, to address this challenge, we undertook to regulate the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority, to further complement this industry’s cooperation with police. Crime takes place within communities and many members of the public are aware. As such the public is encouraged to be whistle-blowers against crime and report crime at all times. Communities must desist from creating a market for stolen goods including, CDs and DVDs, by not buying stolen items and participate in neighbourhood safety forums. Decrease in illegal possession of firearms and ammunition Illegal possession of firearms ratio decreased by a marginal 1,0% during the financial year 2011/12. For at least the past four financial years the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition cases remained absolutely constant however we still remain concerned and we shall be rolling out various campaigns to address this challenge. Decrease in ATM bombings Last year at the time of reporting to the nation, we mentioned that our partnerships with stakeholders such as the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC), Business Against Crime South Africa were being cemented. We intend to work with these partners as government to realise a further decline. One area of concern to the police during the 2010/11 financial year was the significant increase in ATM bombings which increased by 61,5%, from 247 recorded cases in 2009/10 to 399 in the 2010/11 financial year. We are however, proud to report to positive reversal from the increase. In the 2011/12 financial year, we have witnessed a 34,6% decrease in ATM bombings. From 399 cases to a reduction of 261 cases. Decrease in commercial crime A 1,5% decrease for 2011/12 was experienced and the significance this year is that this is a first decrease since 2004/05. In any policing system, our intelligence is a nerve centre and plays a crucial role. It is for this reason we have prioritised the need to revitalise the intelligence component of SAPS and ensure the integration of intelligence into all aspects of policing. The introduction and an enhancement of technology to combat and fight crime (fingerprint identification, forensic technology, CCTVs) and other strategic initiatives all contribute to the overall reduction of crime in the country, particularly commercial crimes. By so doing, we should be able to stabilise and maintain this decrease. The increasing role of computerisation and electronic communication in commercial activity including the globalisation of commercial crime, require us to be ahead from a policing and planning perspectives. Increase in stock theft During the reporting period last year, we reported to the nation a decline of 8,2% in the number of reported cases of stock theft but admittedly expressed our dissatisfaction. For the 2011/12 financial year, the decline has been reversed and we experienced a 1,5% increase. The increase means we need to review our approach because we cannot allow this slight increase to be a trend setting ratio. If we look at an 8 year period from 2004/05 to date, we see that we had reduced stock theft by 31,2%. Dedicated focus is now being given to the practical implementation of the rural safety strategy. In this regard, particular focus is being given to cross border crimes and stock theft in particular. The ministry of police, community organisations, agricultural organisations and trade unions continue to work together in addressing rural safety. Increase in drug-related crimes The drug-related crime ratio increased by 15,6% in the 2011/12 financial year. Drug trafficking must become everybody’s concern. We must organise and mobilise communities to build broader partnerships in pursuit of the ideals of the reconstruction and development, nation-building and reconciliation. Through this effort we must also, in theory and practice, reflect the participatory democracy we are building. All of society must take part in this national effort and, effective systems of interaction with all social partners must be established. Intergovernmental co-operation on safety is being enhanced through, among others, a collective effort in the development as well as stronger cooperation with provinces in tackling this challenge. We are also now strengthening cooperation with our international and regional counterparts to address this global challenge, wherein drug trafficking routes are becoming more and more sophisticated. Increase in cases of drunken driving In 2010/11 driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs ratio increased by 4,5%. For the financial year 2011/12, the figure has increased by 2,9% and this is worrying, particularly as fatalities continue to be associated with drunken-driving. It is against this disturbing background that we welcomed the National Prosecuting Authority's decision to charge people with murder instead of culpable homicide when death has resulted from car accidents. We hope that this decision will ensure social responsibility among motorists. Increase in theft out of/from motor vehicle During the 2011/12 financial year, we witnessed an increase of 4,8% increase in theft out of or from motor vehicles. Our research confirms that the use of remote control devices to prevent the automatic locking of doors, which has now become the second most frequently used modus operandi employed to commit theft out of/from motor vehicles, may have led to this increase. Conclusion: The progress we have made, as reflected in the 2011/12 crime statistics, the victories we continue to score are reflective of the vision of the South African citizens’ commitment and determination to the cause of peace and social progress. We are not there yet, but with the participation of all sectors of society, we are turning the tide against crime. We must win the battle against crime, in whatever form it manifests itself. Crime affects all the people of our country across class, gender, religion and colour. It is our common enemy and collectively, we shall defeat this scourge. What this analogy translates to, is that all our policing actions and policies must be aligned to this fundamental goal. In fighting crime, we must do more and talk less. Let us be inspired by one Jose' Marti, a Cuban revolutionary, poet and lawyer, who said, quote: ‘Other famous men, those of much talk and few deeds, soon evaporate. Action is the dignity of greatness. Like stones rolling down hills, fair ideas reach their objectives despite all obstacles and barriers. It may be possible to speed or to hinder them, but impossible to stop them.’ Accordingly, the struggle for a reduction in crime in our country has also become a struggle for the restoration of the dignity of all citizenry, in their homes, in the workplaces and in their recreational areas. The struggle to reclaim our streets from criminals, who seek to instill fear and compromise the safety of citizens, must be intensified. This struggle must become the epitome of the pragmatic programme to ensure that all South Africans are and feel safe. I thank you. Issued by: South African Police Service 20 Sep 2012 • Crime Statistics: April 2011 - March 2012