Gauteng records 7.9% decrease in crime

Police in Gauteng have announced that crime across the province has decreased by 7.9% during the first three months of the year.

However, Gauteng Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni says kidnapping and cash-in-transit cases have increased by 0.4% and 15.8% respectively.

He was briefing the Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Community Safety on the 4th Quarter Crime Statistics for the 2024/25 financial year.

Mthombeni’s brief focused on crime trends between January and March.

“Crime statistics in Gauteng have moved in a downward trend as we made progress in the fight against crime by recording a 7.9% decrease, which translates to 8 393 counts on 17 community-reported serious crimes for the three months under review. The decrease is a positive trajectory as we take into account the provincial high population and the other various factors.”

Murder cases still problematic

Meanwhile, Mthombeni says despite the province recording a 10.8% decline in the murder rate between January and March this year, multiple murders continue to pose a challenge for the police.

He cited incidents including the murders of six patrollers at Marry Me informal settlement in Soshanguve.

“Contact crimes are crimes committed against a person and the province in this broad category has decreased by 8.5%. Within this category, murder was reduced by 10.8%. The province had a challenge of multiple murders. The multiple murders contributed to 75 dockets with 191 victims to the province’s murder rate. Murder of our police officers for the period under review is 11 police officials. One was killed while on duty and 10 while off duty.”

Q4 Gauteng Crime Stats | Gauteng records 7.9% decrease in crime: