NEWS & ANALYSIS

National crime statistics 2011/2012

Decreases recorded in most categories of crime, but business robberies are up

The South African Police Service have reported declines in most categories of crime year-on-year. This is according to crime statistics for April 2011 to March 2012 released by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa on Thursday. Notably the number of murders continued to decline: to 15 609 last year from 15 940 the year before, a decrease of 2.1%. One category of crime that continues to show an increase however is that of business robberies. 15 951 such robberies were reported last year, up from 14 667 the year before - an increase of 8.8%. See table below.

Crime Category

April 2006 to March 2007

April 2010 to March 2011

April 2011 to March 2012

Year change %

5 Year change %

CONTACT CRIMES (CRIMES AGAINST A PERSON)

Murder

19 202

15 940

15 609

-2.1%

-18.7%

Total Sexual Crimes

65 201

66 196

64 514

-2.5%

-1.1%

Attempted murder

20 142

15 493

14 859

-4.1%

-26.2%

Assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm

218 030

198 602

192 651

-3.0%

-11.6%

Common assault

210 057

185 891

181 670

-2.3%

-13.5%

Common robbery

71 156

54 883

52 980

-3.5%

-25.5%

Robbery with aggravating circumstances

126 558

101 463

101 203

-0.3%

-20.0%

CONTACT-RELATED CRIMES

Arson

7 858

6 533

6 418

-1.8%

-18.3%

Malicious damage to property

143 336

125 327

122 221

-2.5%

-14.7%

PROPERTY-RELATED CRIMES

 

 

 

 

 

Burglary at non-residential premises

58438

69082

70041

1.4%

19.9%

Burglary at residential premises

249665

247630

245531

-0.8%

-1.7%

Theft of motor vehicle and motorcycle

86298

64504

59097

-8.4%

-31.5%

Theft out of or from motor vehicle

124029

123091

130475

6.0%

5.2%

Stock-theft

28828

30144

30949

2.7%

7.4%

CRIMES HEAVILY DEPENDENT ON POLICE ACTION FOR DETECTION

Illegal possession of firearms and ammunition

14 354

14 472

14 461

-0.1%

0.7%

Drug-related crime

104 689

150 673

176 307

17.0%

68.4%

Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs

38 261

66 697

69 441

4.1%

81.5%

OTHER SERIOUS CRIMES

All theft not mentioned elsewhere

415 163

368 095

377 432

2.5%

-9.1%

Commercial crime

61 690

88 388

88 050

-0.4%

42.7%

Shoplifting

65 489

78 383

71 848

-8.3%

9.7%

SUBCATEGORIES FORMING PART OF AGGRAVATED ROBBERY ABOVE

Carjacking

13 599

10 627

9 475

-10.8%

-30.3%

Truck hijacking

892

999

821

-17.8%

-8.0%

Robbery at residential premises

12 761

16 889

16 766

-0.7%

31.4%

Robbery at non-residential premises

6 689

14 667

15 951

8.8%

138.5%

OTHER CRIME CATEGORIES

Culpable homicide

12 871

11 974

11 788

-1.6%

-8.4%

Public violence

1 023

1 226

1 152

-6.0%

12.6%

Crimen injuria

36 747

33 308

31 858

-4.4%

-13.3%

Neglect and ill-treatment of children

4 258

3 473

2 949

-15.1%

-30.7%

Kidnapping

2 345

3 604

3 874

7.5%

65.2%

Source: www.saps.gov.za

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