“This decline in murder cases can be attributed to our heightened operations and enhanced investigative capacity. During this period under review, 202 people were arrested for murder, 101 for attempted murder, 2,453 for assault GBH and 1,730 for assault common,” said Hadebe.
But the province recorded an overall increase of 21,3% in sexual offences.
Sexual assaults went up by 8.1% while rape cases increased by 20.6% to 1,198 compared to 993 during the same quarter the previous year.
Hadebe said success in preventing sexual offences and GBVF-related cases was largely due to the implementation of social crime prevention strategies inclusive of a multidisciplinary crime awareness initiative.
“We need to continuously teach our boys and girls to run from toxic relationships. Our conventional policing also has some limitations given that some of these crimes are committed behind closed doors. Investigations conducted by our family violence, child protection and sexual offences units across the province continue to yield meaningful results as we constantly unmask several thugs with serial rapist traits,” she said.
From October 1 to December 31 2022, 267 suspects were arrested for rape.
During the same period, 16 accused were given 21 life sentences for sexual offences. She said 10 accused were sentenced to 20 years or more.
“We recorded a 40% decrease in both robbery and cash-in-transit and truck hijacking. This is a significant achievement considering the fact that this happened during the festive season and this is usually a time when a lot of these crimes happen.
“We are equally pleased with the hard work of our police officers who managed to confiscate 161 firearms and 1,508 ammunition, and arrested 1,199 suspects on drug-related cases,” she said.
Vigilantism and mob justice contribute to murder rate in Limpopo
Image: Supplied
Mob justice and vigilantism have contributed significantly to assault and murder cases in Limpopo.
This was revealed by provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Thembi Hadebe when she released the crime statistics for the third quarter of the 2022/2023 financial year.
The statistics reflect crimes or cases recorded by police between October 1 2022 and December 31 2022.
Addressing the media on Friday, Hadebe said vigilantism often leads to destruction of property and in some instances death or injury.
She said the province recorded a 9.3% decline in murder cases compared to the same quarter in the 2021/2022 financial year.
“I must mention that, out of 263 murders recorded in the third quarter, 48 were as a result of mob justice as compared to 51 cases during the same period.”
She added that mob justice contributed to seven cases of attempted murder and 26 cases of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH).
Two men burnt to death after kidnap victim screams for help
“This decline in murder cases can be attributed to our heightened operations and enhanced investigative capacity. During this period under review, 202 people were arrested for murder, 101 for attempted murder, 2,453 for assault GBH and 1,730 for assault common,” said Hadebe.
But the province recorded an overall increase of 21,3% in sexual offences.
Sexual assaults went up by 8.1% while rape cases increased by 20.6% to 1,198 compared to 993 during the same quarter the previous year.
Hadebe said success in preventing sexual offences and GBVF-related cases was largely due to the implementation of social crime prevention strategies inclusive of a multidisciplinary crime awareness initiative.
“We need to continuously teach our boys and girls to run from toxic relationships. Our conventional policing also has some limitations given that some of these crimes are committed behind closed doors. Investigations conducted by our family violence, child protection and sexual offences units across the province continue to yield meaningful results as we constantly unmask several thugs with serial rapist traits,” she said.
From October 1 to December 31 2022, 267 suspects were arrested for rape.
During the same period, 16 accused were given 21 life sentences for sexual offences. She said 10 accused were sentenced to 20 years or more.
“We recorded a 40% decrease in both robbery and cash-in-transit and truck hijacking. This is a significant achievement considering the fact that this happened during the festive season and this is usually a time when a lot of these crimes happen.
“We are equally pleased with the hard work of our police officers who managed to confiscate 161 firearms and 1,508 ammunition, and arrested 1,199 suspects on drug-related cases,” she said.
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