Murder on the increase show latest crime stats

GEORGE NEWS - Although there has been a slight decrease in sexual offences in the George area (George, Pacaltsdorp, Conville and Thembalethu, like in the rest of the Western Cape there has been an increase in the murder rate. This is according to the crime statistics for the second quarter (July to September) of 2023/2024 that were released last week.

A total of 24 people were murdered across George between July and September 2023.

This is a 20% increase for the corresponding period in 2022 when 20 murders were recorded. Of these, 13 were committed in Thembalethu, six in the Conville policing area, three in Pacaltsdorp and two in George.

The murder rate in the province showed a year-on-year increase of 10,9% between July and September. During the three months, 1 164 murders were recorded in the province.

Countrywide 6 945 South Africans were murdered. Most of these murders took place in public spaces like parks, open fields, beaches, parking areas and abandoned buildings. Further to this, 13 090 people suffered sexual assault while 42 297 others were seriously assaulted.

Focus on local sexual offences

Sexual offences have shown a slight decrease across all four stations (George, Thembalethu, Pacaltsdorp and Conville) from 98 reported incidents in the second quarter of 2022 to 92 this year.

Most of these were reported in Thembalethu (29 cases). Conville reported 26, George 21 and Pacaltsdorp 16. Of these, 62 were rape cases reported with 25 coming from Thembalethu. Other sexual offences include sexual assault, attempted sexual offences and contact sexual offences.

Incidents of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) increased across the board with 260 incidents reported this year compared with 239 last year.