Bheki Cele has come under fire for more than a decade of waste, mismanagement and neglect, as murders climb to new heights
In the latest report from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), South Africa is found to have experienced its highest murder rate in 20 years, reaching a rate of 45 murders per 100,000 deaths in the last year.
The report reveals a 77% rise in murders from 2011/2012 to 2022/2023, with over 27,000 South Africans slain between April 2022 and March 2023.
Almost all provinces have seen rapid spikes in homicide in the past year, with the notable exceptions of the Western Cape and the Free State. Four provinces (KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape) contribute to 83% of the murders recorded, with murder tending to be highest in the metropolitan municipalities.
Murderers largely go unpunished, as only one in 10 murder cases results in successful prosecution. The ISS report highlights the failure of the national police, and particularly its long-term leader Minister Bheki Cele, to fulfill basic constitutional mandates, especially after promising to reduce “contact crime” by 30% over five years.
There have been calls for several sorts of improvement, from communication, to budgeting, to hiring and overall strategy. The nature of these calls for improvement encompass every aspect of the criminal justice system, from evidence gathering to corruption and even basic literacy among police officers.
The ISS has emphasised the importance of placing specific police commanders in high-murder areas with the appropriate resources and partnerships to make targeted interventions.
Despite the government's commitment to recruit 12,000 new officers in 2023/2024, the murder rate continues to rise, challenging the 30% reduction target set in 2020. This follows recent reports of a fall in the number of police reservists by 90% since Bheki Cele took over the police force over 10 years ago.
According to crime expert and Action Society leader Ian Cameron, Cele’s mismanagement of the police force has resulted in “only 14,5% of murders and 10,43% of armed robberies being solved. This represents a 30% decrease in the likelihood of solving murders and a 39% decrease in solving armed robberies. “
In a recent article on BizNews, in which Cameron outlined the history of abuses and negligence under Cele, he emphasised the need for a total and “holistic” reform of the national police service.
