Gangsters' paradises in SA

FOLLOWING the release of crime statistics last week, it has emerged that the highest murder rates occurred in three provinces.

Western Cape, Free State and North West accounted for 4018 of the 15940 murders in the country. This means the three provinces recorded an increase of 4,2percent, 8,6percent, and 7,9percent respectively.

But KwaZulu-Natal has recorded a decrease of 12,9percent in murder, with 3749 bodies counted in the 2010/2011 financial year.

Murder dropped by 11percent in Gauteng which had 3257 murders while the Eastern Cape had 3187, saw a drop of 2,3percent.

Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape had a drop of 16,4percent, 17,7percent and 6,6percent drop.

In South Africa as a whole, there has been an overall decrease of 6,5percent in this crime category.

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said during the 1994-1995 period the murder ratio stood at 27000.

The Western Cape is the only province that recorded an increase in attempted murder category with 29,8percent - 2162 as compared to 1707 in the 2009-2010 financial year.

Mpumalanga recorded the highest drop with 33,2percent followed by Gauteng at 19,5percent.

KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Eastern Cape recorded a decrease of 16,7percent, 13,7percent and 12,7percent respectively.

North West dropped by 9,5percent while Free State went down by 6,2percent and Northern Cape by 5,2percent.

The country's overall drop in this category is 12,2percent compared to 6,1percent in the past financial year.

Mthethwa said though sex offences had gone down by 3,1percent, the number of reported rapes had risen from 55097 to 56272.

Free State recorded an 8,6percent increase in the category, followed by North West with 6,6percent and then Northern Cape with 5,2percent. Eastern Cape went up by 2,2percent.

Gauteng recorded the highest decrease with a 15,9percent drop while KwaZulu-Natal dropped by 5,4percent. Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Western Cape saw a 4,3percent, 3,8percent and 1,5percent decrease.