Contact crimes which include murders, sexual offences and assault have recorded an increase of 18.5% in the Second Quarter of the 2022/2023 Financial year from July to September 2022.
This is according to the quarterly police crime statistics released by Police Minister, Bheki Cele on Wednesday.
Cele revealed that 7 004 people were murdered between July and September, and at the same time 10 590 people were raped and over 44 300 cases of assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily were reported.
He said arguments, misunderstandings and incidents of road rage and provocations accounted for 956 murders in the country.
Vigilantism incidents claimed the lives of 528 people while 362 people were killed during the commission of a robbery.
Over 6 000 carjackings were reported to the police from July to September 2022 while kidnappings have doubled nationally with over 4 000 counts reported to the police.
RAPE
Over 10 000 rape cases were opened with the SAPS, between July and September this year.
1 651 of the rape incidents occurred at public places such as streets, parks and beaches while 69 people were raped at abandoned buildings.
Cele said buses, taxis, trains and other modes of public transport, were the third most likely places of occurrence for rape incidents.
CHILDREN
In just six months, 558 children were killed in South Africa from April to the end of September 2022.
Police are also investigating 294 attempted murder dockets for the last quarter.
1 895 assault GBH cases, with children as victims, were opened with the police during this reporting period.
ASSAULT
Minister Cele said aggression and violence are at worrying levels in South Africa with a record number of cases reported to police in the last three months.
The SAPS across the country investigated a total of 85 640 assault GBH and common assault cases in the three months of reporting.
Arguments, road rage, provocation and misunderstandings as well as retaliation, revenge and punishment, remain the top motives for assaults GBH.
12 203 assault GBH cases took place behind closed doors; either at the home of the victim or the home of the perpetrator.
The second most likely place of occurrence for assault GBH was at public places such as streets, open fields, recreational centres or abandoned buildings.
6 662 assault GBH cases were Domestic Violence-related.
Despite this Cele says that SAPS continues to prioritise cases of Gender Based Violence as the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offence unit arrested over 4000 perpetrators and senteced more than 800 of them to life behind bars.
