The Western Cape recorded the highest number of gang-related murders in the country, accounting for 263 cases during the third quarter.

A large number of the murders took place in Bishop Lavis, Mitchells Plain, Delft, Kleinvlei, and Elsies River.

Stock theft has decreased by 4.5%, however, the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Cape face challenges in this regard.

Mchunu said interventions will be put in place to address the theft of livestock in these provinces.

“No one should consider themselves to be untouchable. This is also a warning to those who target police in their criminal activities,” Mchunu said.

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A total of 13 police officers were killed during this period, five on-duty while eight were off-duty.

Sexual offences also saw a 2% decline. A total of 3.3% decline in rape cases and a notable decline was seen in carjacking and robberies at both residential and non-residential premises.

Mchunu said with kidnappings, most of the crimes were being orchestrated from prison.

“The most recent case [of kidnapping] in Nelson Mandela Bay was orchestrated from St Alban’s prison, surely prisoners elsewhere are behaving in the same way. Even the mastermind of the Lusisiki [mass] murders was found will cellphones again. He was even moved but he still has access. What he is doing, we don’t know. But I want to ask the Department of Correctional Services to take decisive action. This is a burn on police but also an embarrassment to the whole country,” Mchunu said.

He said these reductions indicate the strategies implemented by police have yielded results.

“Police visibility played a critical role in crime prevention,” Mchunu said.

A total of 244,951 arrests were made during the Safer Festive Season operations. More than 2 million patrols were conducted, with more than 4,600 roadblocks being carried, 620,000 stop and searches were conducted, and more than 2 million persons were searched throughout the country.

“On February 5, we welcomed 5,500 new recruits to the South African Police Services (SAPS) who, upon completion, will reinforce crime-fighting initiatives,” Mchunu said.

He also stated that on Thursday, a total of 16,049 firearms were destroyed. Mchunu stated the destruction of firearms will take place every six months to ensure the recirculation of firearms is curbed.

A deeper dive and intensive discussions on the third quarter crime statistics are expected to take place on Thursday, February 27.

robin.francke@iol.co.za

IOL

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