APA-Pretoria (South Africa) Some 6,945 people were murdered in South Africa between July and September 2023 although Police Minister Bheki Cele was on Friday happy about the declining trend in the number of fatalities over the past six months.
Announcing crime statistics for the third quarter of 2023 in Pretoria, Cele said the figured showed that the country had for the second consecutive quarter seen a decrease in the murder rate.
The latest 0.8 percentage decline in murder cases followed a 3.1 percentage drop recorded in the three months from May to June.
The minister reported that some 35 police officers were also killed in the third quarter of the year.
He said the majority of the people killed in South Africa were murdered during arguments, misunderstandings and provocations that usually took place at social settings.
“Arguments, vigilantism and robbery remain the top three causative factors for murder in the majority of the provinces. Firearms, knives and sharp instruments are likely to be used as murder weapons,” he said.
He added: “Firearms alone claimed the lives of 3,106 victims.”
The police confiscated 2,175 firearms from criminals through anti-crime operations.
According to the minister, the statistics gave the police a sober analysis of the effectiveness of policing efforts to keep South Africans and their properties safe.
These numbers were also used to redirect resources to where they were needed most in the country in order “to better respond to the common enemy of crime,” he said.
NM/jn/APA