Parliament - Parliament’s portfolio committee on police says it is concerned about the increase in the murder rate, which increased by 6.9% in the 2017/2018 financial year.
Chairperson of the committee Francois Beukman said the increase was unacceptable and showed that the measures applied by SAPS were not working.
“It is unacceptable that the murder rate has been on an upward trajectory since the 2012/13 financial year. The increase of 6.9% year on year from the last financial year point to the ineffectiveness of interventions implemented by the South African Police Service (SAPS). Significantly more targeted interventions must be implemented to reverse this worrying trend,” said Beukman.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) led by Police Minister Bheki Cele released the latest crime statistics for 2017/2018 in Parliament on Tuesday. The period covered is from April 1, 2017, to March 31 2018.
Some of the concerning details include an increase in murder to 6.9% with 56 people being murdered each day. The number of cash-in-transit heists has increased by 56.6%, while rape cases have increased by 0.5%.
The DA believes the latest “devasting” crime stats show the government is failing to keep South Africans safe
The party said these states prove that the government is not doing enough to protect its citizens while spending on the protection of VIPs keeps rising with millions being spent yearly.
“We know that SAPS is severely under-resourced, under-staffed, under-trained and under-equipped. The fact that the ANC spends R9.1 million to protect just one VIP but only R1 500 per South African means that there is money available to give the SAPS what they need to fight crime. It is the ANC’s inability to put the people of South Africa first which means that citizens are not and do not feel safe in their homes and in the streets,” said the DA’s shadow minister of police Zakhele Mbhele.