SA murder rate down, but parties warn of ongoing crime crisis

WHILE political parties have cautiously welcomed the overall decrease in the murder rate - except in the Northern Cape, where it increased - they remain adamant that crime in South Africa is a national crisis.

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu released the fourth quarter crime figures on Friday.

The statistics revealed a decrease in murder rates but a rise in gender-based violence (GBV), including rape.

The parties expressed concerns that while discredited narratives like “white genocide” continue to dominate some public discourse, crime was still hitting the country hard.

ActionSA, the EFF and the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) said the government was failing to tackle crime.

The EFF noted that Mchunu had to reiterate that there is no genocide against white people in South Africa, citing recent statistics from the fourth quarter that recorded six farm murders – five of the victims were black, including two farm owners, two farmworkers, and a farm manager.

“These distractions are an insult to the real victims of crime in this country, especially women who continue to be brutalised by gender-based violence; to the communities terrorised by gang violence, extortion and kidnappings; and to the children living in fear of rape, assault and murder,” the EFF said.

ActionSA said the murder rates underscored the scale of the crisis, particularly for women and children, who continue to suffer unspeakable violence, with 13,452 sexual offences reported in just three months.

The party said this was a concern for them.

The FF+ said it was hard to be optimistic when one is adrift in a small boat in a sea of crime.

“There is some good news for South Africa, though; there does not seem to be any new leaks in this small boat,” the party said in a statement.