There has been a drop in murder and sexual crimes in the three-month period between April and June, according crime statistics released by the Police Ministry on Friday.
The statistics show that the murder rate decreased by 3.1% while sexual crimes fell by 2.1% in the reporting period.
The Inanda and Umlazi police stations in KwaZulu-Natal reported most murders followed by Delft, Gugulethu and Harare police stations in Western Cape.
The statistics also show that almost half of reported murder cases, 2 756, were as a result of shootings while 862 people died because of stabbings.
“We’ve realised that we’ve taken the right direction, I’m sure the green shoots will be there,” said Police Minister Bheki Cele.
“Not much, but we think as we said the last time, it looks like we are turning the tide. We hope the trend will grow.”
However, a spike in attempted murder cases was noticed in the reporting period.
National police commissioner General Fannie Masemola said of the 6 228 murders which were reported, 3 072 of the cases occurred in a public place.
Another 1 685 murders took place at the residence of the victim or perpetrator.
“The place where murders least occurred was at the premises of public transport such as a bus stop, taxi rank or train station, with just 62 murders reported,” said Masemola.
In June, Cele revealed that more than a third of murders committed in institutions of learning in South Africa during the first quarter of 2023 were perpetrated by pupils.
The statistics for the first quarter of the year showed that out of the eight murders in schools and universities, three involved a pupil killing another.
The statistics showed that seven murders were committed in school premises and one at a university.
Of the seven murders committed in schools, three or 33.7% involved pupils as victims and perpetrators.
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