Hard work behind drop in crime: Cele

The overall drop in crime mostly came from hard work by police and civil society, national police chief Bheki Cele said today.

"Prayer could have been part of it, but the bigger portion is the effort made by people on the ground," Cele said in Pretoria at the release of the annual crime statistics.

"What the minister [of police Nathi Mthethwa] is announcing here did not happen naturally. It was not the descent of the Holy Ghost in the hearts of the criminals. Some people have worked for it."

Mthethwa announced that South Africa's murder rate dropped 6.5 percent to 15,940 murders in 2010/11 compared to the preceding period.

During the 1994/95 period, 27,000 people were murdered, Mthethwa said.

Attempted murder decreased by 12.2 percent compared to the previous year, while sexual offences raw figures showed a decrease of 3.1 percent.

Assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm also dropped 4.5 percent, while robbery with aggravating circumstances was down 12 percent. The figures were drawn from April 2010 to March 2011.

Cele said there was much progress in provinces, particularly Gauteng, which was the hub of criminal activity.