2 930 murders of women were reported in 2016/2017

South Africa is a dangerous place to live, especially for women. The South African Police Service (SAPS) released the crime stats for the 2017/2018 period, Tuesday in Cape Town. Police Minister, Bheki Cele, addressed the press at the Imbizo Room in Parliament.

Crimes that have seen notable increases include violent crimes such as cash in transit heists and child abductions.In this period, 2 930 murders of women were reported, a 291 increase from the 2016/2017 period. This is an increase of 11%. Reported rape has also increased from 39 828 to 40 035.

This is a cause for concern as individuals and rights organisations have campaigned against femicide in South Africa with no apparent plan of action coming from the Departments of Police or that of Women and Children.

On average, 57 people are murdered every day in South Africa. Nyanga is the murder capital of the country. Of the 20,366 murders reported, 308 were recorded at Nyanga, compared to the 281 cases reported in the 2016/2017 period. The murder rate in the country has increased by 6.9%. The Western Cape has the highest child murder rate with Kwa Zulu Natal as a close second.

Police Minister Bheki Cele has said that “[they] had dropped the ball.” This was in response to the increase in the murder rate “The SA Police Service will declare upfront that somewhere, somehow we dropped the ball,” Cele told journalists. Looking ahead, Cele said that the focus now should not be on assigning blame for the murder stats but looking at how SAPS can work together to pick up the ball.

The question now is, will government take decided action to end femicide in SA or will the trend of complacency continue? All we know is, that these stats paint a bleak scary picture for women in South Africa.