Gauteng’s murder rate is the highest in the past five years

Gunmen killing multiple victims in shootings led to a surge in Gauteng’s murder rate in the last months of 2021.

The rate of murder in Gauteng increased by 18.3%, provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Elias Mawela said in a presentation of the 2021/2022 Q3 Gauteng crime statistics to the legislature’s portfolio committee on community safety on Friday. This is the highest in five years.

Of the 1,570 people killed in the quarter, 189 were women and 37 were children.

Mawela said 41 cases of murder registered during the same period were related to domestic violence. Twenty-three females were killed, while 18 victims were males.

When looking at a sample of 1,280 cases, the top three contributing factors for murders were:

• arguments and misunderstandings — not related to domestic affairs: 112 cases;
• robberies — house, business and street: 50 cases; and
• vigilantism: 29 cases.

Mawela said there were three murders at farms or smallholdings. Two of the victims were residents and one was a farmworker.

Five police officers were murdered during this time.

In relation to where the incidents happened, it was determined that the top three places for murders are:

• public places such as on the street, in an open field, in parking areas and abandoned buildings: 564 murders;
• the residence of the victim or the perpetrator: 309; and
• liquor outlets: 70.

A factor contributing to the increase in murders is a “phenomenon of multiple murders”. This is when there is more than one victim murdered in one incident.

Gauteng had 18 dockets of murder registered with 50 victims and that contributed to more accumulated counts of murder during the quarter.

“Examples of multiple murders during the quarter under review happened in Kagiso and Laudium.

“In Kagiso, seven people were killed and five injured by a group of armed balaclava-clad men. This incident happened at a house close to where there was a wedding. Consequently, people who attended the wedding were also affected.

“In Laudium, investigations revealed a vehicle stopped near an illegal shebeen. The occupants randomly shot at the patrons and this resulted in the murder of five people and 12 were injured.

“The motives for these shootings are under investigation. Based on these two crime scenarios, 12 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder were registered.”

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