Remarks By the Minister of Police, E.n. Mthethwa, Mp, on the Occasion of the Release of the 2012/13 South African Police Service National Crime Statistics, Saps Tshwane Training Academy, Pretoria

Deputy Minister of Police, Ms MM Sotyu;

All MECs responsible for policing present;

National Commissioner of Police, General MV Phiyega;

Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ms A Van Wyk;

All SAPS Lieutenant Generals, Senior Officers and Staff present;

Civilian Secretary for Police, Ms J Irish-Qhobosheane;

CEO of Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority, Mr M Chauke;

Acting Executive Director of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate,

Ms K Mbeki;

Representatives from Statistics South Africa, CPFs, Business, Policing Unions;

Representatives from Research and Academic Institutions, Civic Organizations present;

Distinguished Guests;

Members of the Media;

Ladies and Gentlemen;

The current administration came into power having identified five key priorities for its current term. Amongst the five priorities, is the fight against crime and corruption. The South African Police Service (SAPS) is the lead agent in the realization of the reduction of crime, in whatever form it manifests itself.

Over the past 19 years, after centuries of colonialism and apartheid, a new era has dawned for South Africa. Contrary to what some skeptics may affirm, the journey we have traversed thus far gives us confidence that we shall reach our goal of a society that is free from crime, a society that attracts investments and a society that cares.

The duty we are undertaking this morning, of objectively accounting before the nation on the progress in crime prevention and reduction, depicts the reality that our interventions are yielding the desired effect around tackling crime, albeit there is still more that needs to be done. This is despite the fact that our population figures have been on the increase.

The release of the SAPS national crime statistics for the period 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013 should be understood from this accountability and reflection perspectives.

The South African policing environmental analysis

Our democratic government has invested enormously in the policing environment, we currently have a total personnel strength of 197 946 with a comparative police vs. population ratio of 1:336.

We have adequate vehicles (51 713 vehicles) with a vehicle vs. personnel ratio of 1:3.83 and in South Africa there are 1 135 police stations serving as fixed police-community contact points for service delivery.

Government initiatives and the criminal justice system to fight crime are plausible. Over the past 9 years (2004/5 to 2012/13) crime continues to decline against the increase in population figures.

There are specific crimes that continue to persist over the same period. The escalating number of public unrest also draws local members conducting basic policing to support public policing and strains resources.

Success in public order policing is further enhanced by continuously restoring and sustaining stability in the country. We however, still recognise that more fresh and dedicated resources are required to capacitate Public Order Police to meet these challenges. The murders of police continue to erode their capacity to fight crime.

The rural community’s access to police services requires creative rural policing partnerships, initiatives and accessibility models. Current initiatives include the rollout of Provincial Crime Prevention Strategies and Mine Crime Combating Forums.

We also have strategic partnerships with the banking sector (SABRIC), business (Business against Crime), CrimeLine and LeadSA who have contributed immensely to our collective crime prevention and crime reduction programmes.

Crime ratio is an internationally accepted depiction of crime as raw figures may skew the true reflection on performance of those types of crime that directly affect the population, particularly contact crime. This is further corroborated by the fact that the opportunity for these crimes is also tantamount to the population dynamics.

We are aware that certain crime does not have to utilise the entire population ratios hence the provisioning of both raw figures and ratios for all serious crime to allow for ease of reference or utilisation for any person or entity wishing to conduct further analysis on each crime. A comprehensive and detailed breakdown of the crime statistics will be available on www.saps.gov.za.

Fellow South Africans,

During the 2011/12 financial year there were 777 140 serious crime arrests effected and 806 298 in 2012/13.

There were 307 580 convictions in 2011/12 and 352 513 convictions for all serious crimes during 2012/13.

609 suspects were sentenced to 826 life sentences. Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) accounts for 499 of these life sentences.

1 586 persons were sentenced to a combined total of 2006 years imprisonment for serious crimes.

Reported crime figures pertaining to crimes against women and children indicate:

In 2009/10 there were 197 877 crimes committed against women in comparison to 175 880 in 2012/13, a decrease of 11.1%.

In 2009/10 there were 56 539 crimes committed against children in comparison to 49 550 in 2012/13, a decrease of 12.4%.

Police also recovered 51 730 vehicles in 2012/13.

There were 89 clandestine laboratories detected and dismantled over the past 3 years (32 in 2010/11, 16 in 2011/12, and 41 in 2012/13).

1 096 694, 944lt liquor was confiscated and 92 929 identified illegal liquor premises were closed down during 2011/12 compared to 1 824 865, 82lt confiscated and 74 547 premises closed in 2012/13.

We still experience a high prevalence of illegal firearms however the following successes were noted during the financial year (2012/13) under review:

Confiscations: 25 615 firearms in 2011/12 compared to 20 145 in 2012/13.

Voluntary surrender: 4 876 firearms in 2011/12 compared to 4 936 in 2012/13.

Destructions: 119 810 firearms destructed in 2011/12 compared to 56 051 in 2012/13.

Longitudinally, the following broad categories of crime have constantly indicated varying proportions of decrease when one considers the 9-5-4-1 approach:

Decrease in Contact Crimes (crimes against the person)

Contact Crime has...