South Africa is a mess when it comes to crime. This past week Police Minister Senzo Mchunu released the crime statistics for the fourth quarter of 2023/2024 and the first quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year which tell a sobering story of how the country has gone to the dogs.
The minister painted a grim picture of how crime in this country is generally on the increase and crimes that are of concern include murder, rape, hijacking, kidnapping for ransom payments, and extortion.
Contact crimes increased by 3 831 from 149 806 cases to 153 637 cases reported in the first quarter of 2021-2022 and 2023-2024.
This is followed by assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm with 2 247 cases and common assault with 1 339 cases.
Rape, cash-in-transit heists, construction mafias and farm murders are a big issue and need serious attention.
The minister said he had noted an increase in the number of rape and extortion cases reported.
The issue of extortion syndicates in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, KZN and other parts of this country also tell a very worrying story.
Then there is the new wave of farm owner murders which tell another side of how things in this country are going from bad to worse.
The criticism that KZN police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi is receiving for his alleged “heavy handedness” when it comes to dealing with violent crime in the province, even though fair, should tell you how bad the situation has become.
We are fast losing the battle against crime and something has to give, if we are serious about dealing with this epidemic.
In fact, the crime issue in this country deserves a national dialogue. It cannot be business as usual when things continue to be the way they are.
The Star
siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za