Recently released crime statistics for the second quarter of 2023/24 financial year have revealed that 35 police officers were murdered between July and September 2023, 12 more than in the same period the year prior.
This, according to the South African Police Service crime statistics measuring the second quarter of the 2023/2024 year.
The stats show:
– 12 out of the 35 police murdered during this period were on duty.
– 23 cops were murdered from July to September 2022, compared to the 35 this year.
– Most of the officers killed were shot dead, while one was murdered by a suspect who had set the police vehicle alight, which later exploded killing the officer and the suspect.
– Three police officers were killed while pursuing a suspect
– Two were killed during crossfire at the scene of the crime
– One was killed in a drive-by shooting
– One officer was shot dead during a stop and search
– One officer was killed while interviewing a suspect
– One officer was killed while apprehending a suspect
– One officer was killed while attending a complaint
– One officer was killed when he was hijacked on the way to court.
The police deaths occurred on duty, according to the report.
In the first quarter of the year, 31 police officers were murdered, 18 more than the same period in 2022.
Delft, Umlazi and Inanda were the top three places in the country where you were likely to be murdered in, according to the report.
– 80 people were murdered in the Delft
– 79 people were murdered in Umlazi
– 76 people were murder in Inanda.
For Umlazi and Inanda, these numbers represented a decrease, as the two eThekwini townships recorded 95 and 99 murdered for the same period in 2022.
Overall, the Eastern Cape is still the deadliest province in the country as it accounts for most of the murders reported for July to September 2023.
The stats show that 20 people per 100,000 are murdered in the Eastern Cape, the report stated, while 14 people per 100,000 in KZN and 16 per 100,000 in the Western Cape.
IOL