Durban - Police Minister Bheki Cele has described the country’s murder rate as high and worrisome while delivering the country's crime statistics for the first quarter of 2022/23 on Friday.
Over 6 424 people were murdered in the first quarter of the year between April and June this year, a staggering increase of 664 more people compared with the same period last year.
The crime stats show that 1623 people were murdered in the KZN province - the most in the country.
KZN was followed by Gauteng, with 1490 people murdered, the Eastern Cape, with 1200 murders, and the Western Cape, with 994.
The crime stats showed uMlazi and the Plessislaer police stations in KZN registered the highest murder cases during this period, with 83 and 69 murders respective.
Cele said arguments and misunderstandings alongside revenge were the top three reasons for murder.
He said 2 766 people were shot dead between April and June this year.
The highest firearm-related deaths were in KZN.
A total of 912 people were shot dead in KZN, followed by 697 in Gauteng and 498 in the Western Cape.
KZN also recorded the highest number of multiple murders. Out of 48 dockets investigated by SAPS, 18 were from KZN.
“The KwaZulu-Natal province recorded the highest number of multiple murders, followed by Gauteng and the Eastern Cape in which two or more victims were killed at a time,” said Cele.
Meanwhile, KZN had a 6% decrease in reported rape incidents, but the 1953 reported cases were still the highest in the country.
Gauteng also had a 6.4% decrease, but still recorded 1909 cases and the Western Cape recorded 1115 rape incidents.
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