Police Minister Bheki Cele released the annual crime statistics for 2017/2018 in Parliament on Tuesday. According to the latest statistics, 57 people were killed in South Africa a day. The minister has described the figures as those of a war zone.
These are ten of the most important statistics from his report:
* The total number of reported crimes has increased to more than three million.
* The murder rate has increased by 6.9 percent.
* 18 233 reported attempted murders were reported over the past year.
* 40 035 cases of rape were opened over the reporting period. This translates to a 0.5 percent decrease in reported rape cases.
* Assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm cases are down 1.9 percent
* Cash-in-transit robberies have increased by 56.6 percent since the previous reporting period. A total of 238 cases were reported over the past year.
* Burglaries at non-residential premises have decreased by 5.8 percent and at residential premises by 7.5 percent
* Hijackings have decreased by 2.3 percent to 16 717 reported cases.
* Business robberies have decreased by 3.1 percent from last year.
* House robberies have decreased by 0.4 percent.