SAPS Crime Statistics in eThekwini 2015-16 Prepared by Office of Strategic Management: Research and Policy Advocacy Jan 2017 "For any queries contact Mahlomola Lengolo at [email protected] 0 Table of Contents 1) Background…………………………………………………………………………… 3 2) Executive Summary………………………………………………………………….. 3 3) Total Crime……………………………………………………………………………. 10 4) Contact Crime………………………………………………………………………... 13 5) Murder………………………………………………………………………………… 16 6) Sexual Crimes……………………………………………………………………….. 19 7) Robbery with Aggravating Circumstances……………………………………. 22 8) Property Related Crime…………………………………………………………... 25 9) Burglary at Business Premises…………………………………………………. 29 10) Burglary at Residential Premises………………………………………………. 32 11) Public Opinion Survey…………………………………………………….……… 35 12) Victims of Crime Survey……………………………………………………….… 38 1 Appendices Appendix 1: Total Crime…………………………………………………………………... 41 Appendix 2: Contact Crime……………………………………………………………….. 43 Appendix 3: Murder……….………………………………………………………………. 45 Appendix 4: Sexual Crimes….…………………………………………………………… 47 Appendix 5: Aggravated Robbery……………………………………………………… 49 Appendix 6: Property Related Crime…………………………………………………… 51 Appendix 7: Burglary at Business Premises…………………………………………. 53 Appendix 8: Burglary at Residential Premises……………………………………… 55 Appendix 9: Households and Population per Station (Census 2011)………….. 57 2 1. Background Although violence is a global concern that knows no boundaries, safety, freedom and security of the person are fundamental Human Rights. As such, The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (RSA) is emphatic on the need to protect all people living in the country from both public and private sources that may subvert this right (The Constitution of RSA, Act No. 108 of 1996). This report provides an in‐depth analysis of the circumstances surrounding contact crimes (crimes against the person), contact related crimes, property related crimes, crime detected as a result of police action, other serious crimes and subcategories of aggravated robbery. The report also provides statistical measures of trends over a period of ten years. These offences were reported in the 44 police stations across eThekwini Municipal area. Three specific contact crimes are discussed in this report, these are: assault, sexual offences and murder. 2. Executive Summary Total Crime Over a ten year period (2006-07 to 2015-16) crime showed signs of being under control between 2006-7 and 2007-8. However it trended upwards starting at 158 311 reported cases in 2007-8 to 167 303 cases in 2009-10. Although for the second time in the ten year period, crime levels showed signs of being under control again between 2009-10 and 2010-11. Over the ten year period crime was at its highest level in 2012-13 (179 030 cases). The lowest number of crime cases was recorded in 2007-8 at 158 311 cases in eThekwini. At provincial level (KwaZulu-Natal), total crime also trended downwards especially in the last two years of the ten year period. 3 As a result of the downward trajectory, 9% crime drop was netted over the ten year period in South Africa. Total Contact Crime The highest peak in contact crimes was recorded in 2011-12 as 48 066 cases were reported to the police in eThekwini. Then contact crimes trended downwards as 42 095 cases were reported in 2015-16. Comparing the two years and looking at the top 10 police stations in eThekwini, crime rate was high in 2015-16 compared to 2014-15. A 0.9% drop in contact crime was observed in KZN between 2014-15 and 2015-16. As contact crime was decreasing in eThekwini and KZN, it was increasing nationally and between 2014-15 and 2015-16, a 1% increase was recorded in South Africa (nationally). Murder Murder cases trended upwards for four consecutive years beginning at 1349 reported cases in 2011-12 to 1576 cases in 2014-15. A marginal decline was recorded in 2015-16 at 1553 cases in eThekwini KwaZulu Natal recorded the highest number of murder cases compared to other provinces. Nationally over a ten year period starting from 2006-07 to 2015-16, murder cases were steadily dropping from 19 106 in 2006-07 to 15 554 in 2011- 12. Suddenly, following this steady dipping of murder, an upward trajectory surfaced, starting at 16 213 reported murder cases in 2012-13 to 18 673 cases in 2015-16. 4 The same upward trajectory in murder cases was notable in KwaZulu- Natal and in eThekwini around the same time period. Cape Town had the highest murder rate in Africa in 2015 at 66 per 100 000 persons, followed by Durban at 36 (35.9), then Nelson Mandela Bay at 36 (35.8) and Johannesburg at 33 per 100 000 persons. The majority of the 50 most violent cities in the world are in Latin America (41 cities). Of the 50 cities in the ranking, 21 are located in Brazil, 8 in Venezuela, 5 in Mexico, 4 in South Africa, 4 in the United States of America, 3 in Colombia and 2 in Honduras. Of the 4 South African cities listed in the top 50, Cape Town was in the top 10 and sits among the champions of violence in the world (Mexican Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice 2015). Total Sexual Crimes Sexual crimes reported over a five year period in eThekwini trended downwards starting at 4227 in 2011-12 and settled at 2989 in 2015-16. They decreased by 29%. KwaZulu Natal recorded 9 079 sexual crime cases 2014-15. These decreased to 8 947 cases the following year (2015-16) which is a marginal decline of 1.5% that is worthy to be noted given the repercussions of this crime. Nationally , sexual crime trend over a ten year period between 2006- 07 and 2015-16 embarked on a downward trajectory which eventually spread to KwaZulu-Natal starting in 2008-09 at 69 197 to 2015-16 in which 51 895 cases were opened. 5 Robbery with Aggravating Circumstances An upward trend for the first three years of the five year period starting at 10 488 reported cases in 2011-12 to 11 631 cases in 2013-14 was observed in eThekwini. Thereafter a short-lived decline was recorded in 2014-15 at 11 297 hence the following year (2015-16) robberies with aggravating circumstances surged to 11 465 cases. KwaZulu-Natal recorded 20 881 robbery cases in 2014-15 and an increased 21 061 cases in 2015-16. The major contributors to the national robbery with aggravating circumstances figure was the Gauteng Province, followed by the Western Cape and then KwaZulu-Natal over the last two years (2014-15 and 2015-16). Property related Crime In the five year period starting from 2011-12 to 2015-16, property related crime was at its peak in 2012-2013 as 45 384 cases were recorded in eThekwini. Thereafter it dropped to 39 488 cases in 2015-16. In the whole of KZN, 86 814 property related cases were reported in 2014-15. These decreased to 86 385 cases a year later (2015-16). This was just a 0.5% decrease. This marginal decrease was also felt at municipal level as eThekwini recorded a 1% decrease in the same two years. The major contributors to the national figure were Gauteng, followed by the Western Cape and then KwaZulu-Natal. The national trend over the 10 year period (2006-07 and 2015-16) fluctuated noticeably between 542 197 and 558 334. The highest peak was recorded in 2012-13 at 558 334 cases. Thereafter property related cases embarked on a downward trajectory culminating in 543 524 cases in 2015-16 which is a 3% decrease. 6 Between 2014-15 and 2015-16, property related crimes dropped by 1.8% nationally. Burglary at Business Premises Burglaries at business premises were at their peak in 2012-13 whereby 5113 cases were reported in eThekwini. Thereafter for two consecutive years, business burglaries appeared to be subdued at 4531 and 4362 cases respectively. However in 2015-16, business burglaries surged to 4842 cases. KwaZulu-Natal recorded 11 032 cases in 2014-15 and these surged to 11 656 burglary cases in 2015-16. This resulted in a 5.7% increase. The major contributors to the national figure were Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The national trend on business burglaries over a ten year period between 2006- 07 and 2015-16 projected an upward trend with a marginal dip only in 2010-11 and 2011-12. In the last two years, still maintaining an upward trajectory, a total of 74 358 business burglary cases were reported in 2014-15, these increased to 75 008 cases in 2015-16. This is a 1% increase. Burglary at Residential Premises Burglary incidences at residential premises were also at their peak in 2012-13 whereby a total of 22 003 cases were reported in eThekwini. A total of 19 895 burglary cases were reported in 2013-14, these dropped to 18 820 cases in 2014-15 and further dropped to 18 091 cases in 2015-16. As a result of this downward trajectory, a decrease of 9% was recorded since the 2012-13 peak. 7 The province of KwaZulu-Natal also emulated eThekwini especially in the last two years in terms of the downward trajectory. A total of 43 274 residential burglaries were reported in KwaZulu-Natal in 2014- 15. These dropped to 42 429 cases in 2015-16, which is 2% drop. The national trend over the ten year period between 2006-07 and 2015-16 for burglaries at residential premises fluctuated with a notable peak only recorded in 2012-13 at 261 319 residential burglaries. Thereafter, the downward trajectory was observed culminating in 250 606 cases in 2015-16. In the last two years, 253 716 cases were reported nationally in 2014-15. These dropped to 250 606 cases in 2015-16, which is 1.2% drop. Public Opinion eThekwini residents were surveyed annually and asked if they had been victims of crime in the last year.