By AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE civil rights watchdog, AfriForum, believes there is currently no control over crime in South Africa.
It warned the residents to expect a further increase in violent crimes.
This follows Fikile Mbalula, Minister of Police, on Tuesday announcing the murder statistics for 2016/2017.
He indicated the murder rate for the past year increased with 1,8 percent,which means that approximately 1 000 more people were murdered.
Afriforum said this indicated the current murder rate for 2016/2017 totals is 19 016.
Furthermore, robbery with aggravating circumstances increased in the past five years with 33 percent and vehicle hijackings with 77,5 percent while cash-in-transit robberies also rose steeply with an increase of 10,9 percent.
Afriforum expressed a lack of faith in Mbalula.
“Up until now, Mbalula has brought about no change since he was appointed in his post and people are increasingly feeling unsafe in South Africa.”
Presenting the statistics, Mbalula sent a warning to gang lords and violent criminals.
“Their exploits will be matched with a proportional response to the nature of the violence they dish out,” he said.
Lieutenant General Norman Sekhukhune, Head of Police Crime Research and Statistics, said despite a decrease in community-related crimes, murder remained a challenge.
– CAJ News