Gauteng records slight decrease in contact crime for the second quarter

The Gauteng Police Commissioner says contact crime has decreased by 5.9% in the province, which is 446 less counts compared to the same period last year.

Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela says Gauteng is among the top 4 South African provinces that have managed reduced their overall crime rate.

“These latest stats will show that as a province, we have worked very hard to reduce our overall crime statistics. We continue to work harder to implement our crime combating strategies in order to defend the positive gains achieved for the quarter under review,” he says.

Mawela briefed the media on the province’s crime statistics for the second quarter of the 2023/24 financial year in Braamfontein on Thursday.

He says they will continue to stem the tide of crime in South Africa’s economic hub.

Mawela says they have reduced 10 out of the 17 community-reported serious crimes. These crimes have dropped by 2.6%, which is 2 892 counts less than the same period last year.

“The reduction is attributed to the three broad categories, which include contact-related crime, property-related crime and other serious crime,” he explains.

While sexual related crimes continue to plague the country daily, police seem to have been able to reduce rape in the province. The Gauteng Police Commissioner says the province has seen a 7.4% decrease in rape incidents.

He says 1 008 sexual offenders have been arrested and police have managed to secure 42 life terms with an additional 1 084 years in prison, for the quarter under review.

Despite these wins however, Mawela says, other contact crimes continue to be a sore point for the police, as they have recorded slight increases.