THE murder of women and children in South Africa saw a significant decrease between July and September, with the first seeing a decrease of 10,9 percent and the second going down by seven percent, but the number of lives lost to gender-based violence remains staggering.
Police recorded 881 murder cases involving women in the three months, down from 989 during the same period last year. Police registered 293 murder cases involving children, down by 22 from 315 from July to September 2022.
This was revealed by police top brass and police minister Bheki Cele during a presentation of crime statistics for the second quarter of the 2023-2024 financial year to parliament’s police portfolio committee on Friday.
While fewer murder cases involving women were registered, attempted murder and assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm (GBH) went up. Attempted murder had the highest spike of 18,6 percent, with 1 514 cases registered between July and September.
This is an increase of 237 from 1 277 during the same period last year. Assault GBH went up by 5,1 percent, with 14 401 cases reported to police. This is 700 more than last year’s figure of 13 701. In the crimes against children category, attempted murder saw an increase of 22,8 percent. There were 361 cases reported to police, up by 67 from 294 during the same period last year.
Assault GBH went down by four percent, with 1 820 cases reported to police. This is 75 fewer than last year’s 1 895. Arguments, misunderstandings, road rage and provocation continue to lead the pack when it comes to the causes of murders in general. This was followed by vigilantism or mob justice and then robbery. — TimesLIVE