THE murder rate increased once again, this time by 4.9 between last year April and this year March. Most occurred indoors, between people who know each other.
Over 18 673 people lost their lives in the last financial year, causing a worry to the Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko, who just released the stats this Friday, September 2.
The taxi industry is said to have contributed to the increase in the murder rate. This is mostly because of conflicts that arise as the parties fight over routes.
In the South these shootings have already taken place in this industry when the Mall of the South was opened and also in the north following the opening of the Mall of Africa.
Carjacking is another worrying factor, with an increase of 14.3% countrywide and 7 367 vehicles reported carjacked in the Gauteng Province alone.
But with new technology making it more difficult for criminals to steal vehicles, they have resorted to hijacking vehicles on the roads as they can get the keys from the drivers. In fact, just recently, famous actor Tumisho Masha was hijacked by a group of men who locked him in the boot for five hours as they drove around trying to remove the tracking device.
There were 20 820 home robberies reported and 250 606 home burglaries reported.
Sexual offences decreased by 3.2%.
the national murder rate is now 34 per 100 000, which is an increase from 33 per 100 000 last year.
