Road rage, misunderstandings among leading causes of murders in Gauteng

Road rage, misunderstandings and provocation have been listed as causes of most murders committed in Gauteng in the three months from July to September.

This was presented to the legislature’s portfolio committee on community safety by provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Elias Mawela in Rosebank on Wednesday.

Mawela was presenting provincial crime statistics for the second quarter of 2022, which ran from July to September.

The contact crimes category, which includes serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder, rape and robbery with aggravating circumstances, has increased by 17.9%.

Murders

During the three months under review, 1,579 people were killed in Gauteng, an increase of 19.6%.

Mawela said the top contributors to the increase in numbers are arguments, misunderstanding, road rage and provocation. In this category, reported murders stood at 141, followed by vigilantism or mob justice at 109 and 92 cases of robbery. 

“The most common places where murders are likely to take place are in public places such as on the street and in an open field, in parking areas and abandoned buildings,” Mawela said.

He said 324 murders were carried out at the residences of the victims or perpetrators and 134 at shopping centres.

Multiple murders in Gauteng continued to contribute significantly to the number of murders during this period.

“We had 59 murder dockets with 145 victims murdered. We all remember the infamous Soweto tavern shooting in July which left 17 people dead in one incident. It is small comfort to the families of victims that we were able to crack the case and arrest five suspects,” he said. 

Mawela said firearms were the preferred weapon for murders, with 768 murders committed.

Eight police officers were killed during this period. One member was on duty and the rest were killed while off duty. 

Sexual offences 

Rapes, sexual assaults and attempted sexual offences have also recorded increases, Mawela said.

“Sexual offences as a subcategory increased by 8.3%, which translates to 221 counts higher in comparison with the same period in 2021/2022. We have intensified suspect tracing operations that have resulted in the arrests of more than 700 sexual offenders.”

Mawela said during the same period police achieved convictions which ensured 34 sexual offenders were sentenced to a combined 52 life terms and an additional 747 years in prison.

He said carjacking, robbery at residential premises and robbery at non-residential premises increased by 8.6%, which translates to 507 counts more than the 2021/2022 period.

Other crime categories falling under the subcategory of robbery aggravated are cash-in-transit heists and truck hijacking, which increased by 32.4% and 33.3% respectively.

Mawela said two bank robberies were reported.

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