By Neelam Rahim

Police minister Bheki Cele presented the quarterly crime statistics at a media briefing on Friday. The period covers crime reported from the first of April until the end of June and shows an increase in murders. Cele said the stations that reported the highest murder rates were Umlazi in Durban, Plessislaer, and Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal and Mthatha in Eastern Cape.

Speaking to Radio Islam International, an Independent consultant in the Crime and Justice Programme at the Institute for Security Studies, Dr Johan Burger said the severe and violent crimes such as robbery, aggravated robbery and murder continue to increase.

According to Dr Johan, the biggest concern is that it continues to go up, and one has to question how much further this can go.

He says there must be a turning point, and we are in serious trouble if the severe violent crimes do not turn down.

The other concerns are the high increase in serious and violent crimes against women and children. An increase of 53 per cent in murders of women 18 years and older and 46.4 per cent in the murder of children from zero to seventeen years. He added that the same goes for attempted murder and serious assault.

“In this month where we celebrate our women, we see these absolute serious increases in acts of violence aimed against women and children.”

In response to questions asked by Radio Islam, Dr Johan said two victim surveys that Stats SA show declines in the trust and confidence levels that the public has in the police from approximately 50 per cent to around 25 per cent.

“This is one of the reasons why I believe some of those sexual offences and assault figures have come down simply because people do not trust the police enough to go and report it to them.”

He stated that in some communities, because they’ve lost their trust and confidence in the police, they tend to convict and punish people they accuse of committing certain crimes.

According to Dr Johan, vigilantism is on the rise, which reflects trust and confidence not just in the police but in the criminal justice system.

Meanwhile, firearm’s three times more likely to be a weapon of choice in all reported murders, with an astounding 2776 people shot dead over the reported period. Dr Johan said firearms are used in many parts of the world simply because guns enable one to commit crimes that would not have been possible or would have been more challenging to execute.

Dr Johan added that firearms seem easily accessible, and the police lose this for several reasons. A large number of firearms every year end up in criminals’ hands. The same goes for the military, private security companies and a few other state institutions. Some guns tend to be smuggled into the country across our borders.

“Criminals have the access to firearms which enables them to commit crimes and I don’t think that the police are effective enough in determining where these are firearms located and been able to seize those firearms.”