Opposition parties call for police system overhaul after crime stats show hike in murders

JOHANNESBURG - Opposition parties called for an overhaul of the country’s police system following an increase in the number of people being killed.

On Friday, police released the third quarterly crime statistics covering the period from 1 October to 31 December 2023.

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During those three months, police recorded 7,710 murders, working out to about 83 murders a day.

The third quarterly crime statistics cover a large part of the festive season period, where there is typically a spike in most crime categories.

In 2019, 5,908 murders were recorded for the period in review, with that number increasing every year.

ActionSA President Herman Mashaba said South Africans were under siege.

Mashaba said there needed to be a cut on the VIP protection budget and that money redirected to hiring more police officers.

Meanwhile, Build One South Africa's Roger Solomons, said Bheki Cele’s position as Police Minister was untenable in the face of these statistics.

ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSING AND ILLEGAL GUNS INFLUX

The Police Ministry blamed illegal border crossing for the influx of illegal guns into the country.

The third-quarter crime statistics showed that murders, attempted murder, contact crimes, carjacking, and aggravated robberies were on the rise when compared to the same period in 2023, with firearms being the most preferred instruments of use for killing.

Cele said while there has been an increase in the number of illegal firearms repossessed by police, more needed to be done.

“What are the sources of illegal firearms? One is illegal border crossing because you find a lot of AK47s, and there are no AK47s in South Africa, which means they come through the borders, especially those that run illegal mining and cash heists.”