Murder

During this period, the SAPS reported a total of 409,954 murders. That equates to 20,497 per year, 56 per day. A murder occurred every 26 minutes.

Culpable Homicide

We’re all aware of this crime category given the latest developments in the Oscar Pistorius trial. Besides murder, this is the only other crime in which a life is taken by another and one would assume it would be serious. Unfortunately it is seldom mentioned in the media and often left out of police reports and if you look at the official crime stats presented by the police each year, it’s not classified as a “Serious Crime”. It’s a fact; the killing of Reeva Steenkamp is not classified as a “Serious Crime” according to the SAPS.

During this period, the SAPS reported a total of 243,939 culpable homicides. That equates to 12,197 per year, 33 per day. A culpable homicide has occured every 43 minutes.

This means that during this period, a total of 653,893 have been killed in reported homicides. That equates to 32,695 per year, 90 per day. A homicide occurred every 16 minutes.

Serious Crimes

Here are the numbers for the 20 categories of “Serious Crimes” reported by the SAPS during this period:

Murder: Total – 409,954; Per year – 20,498; Per day – 56

Attempted murder: Total – 477,024; Per year – 23,851; Per day – 65

Assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm: Total – 4,544,244; Per year 227,212; Per day – 622

Total sexual offences: Total – 1,240,461; Per year – 62,023; Per day – 170 (Estimates of actual sexual offences range between 6m (conservative) and 25m (aggressive))

Common Assault: Total – 4,321,777; Per year – 216,089; Per day – 592

Robbery with Aggravating circumstances: Total – 2,138,054; Per year – 106,903; Per day – 293

Common Robbery: Total – 1,335,212; Per year – 66,761; Per day – 183

Burglary at business premises: Total – 1,522,418; Per year – 76,121; Per day – 209

Burglary at residential premises: Total – 5,310,740; Per year – 265,537; Per day – 727

Theft of motor vehicle/cycle: Total – 1,716,024; Per year – 85,801; Per day – 235

Theft out of motor vehicle: Total – 3,172,934; Per year – 158,647; Per day – 435

Stock theft: Total – 728,785; Per year – 36,439; Per day – 100

Arson: Total – 165,261; Per year – 8,263; Per day – 23

Malicious damage to property: Total – 2,703,183; Per year – 135,159; Per day – 370

Illegal possession of guns/ammunition: Total – 287,106; Per year – 14,355; Per day – 39

Drug related crime: Total – 1,905,573; Per year – 95,279; Per day – 261

Driving under the influence: Total – 796,022; Per year – 39801; Per day – 109

Other theft: Total – 8,866,946; Per year – 443,347; Per day – 1,215

Commercial Crimes: Total – 1,362,433; Per year – 68,122; Per day – 187

Shoplifting: Total – 1,387,513; Per year – 69,378; Per day – 190

This equates to a grand total of: 44,391,664 “Serious Crimes” reported in this period. That means 2,219,583 per year, 6081 per day.

Then there are also the crimes that do not fall under the “Serious Crimes” category:

Kidnapping & Abduction: Total – 103,186; Per year – 5,159; Per day – 14

Negligent & Ill treatment of children: Total – 69,990; Per year – 3,450; Per day – 10

Crimen Injuria: Total – 830,653; Per year – 41,532; Per day – 114

Culpable Homicide (including Reeva Steenkamp and Jub Jub victims): Total – 243,939; Per year – 12,197, Per day – 33

Including these not-so-serious crimes, the grand total of crimes reported by the SAPS for this period is: 45,639,432. That means 2,281,972 per year, 6252 per day.

Bear in mind that our prison population sits at approximately 160,000…