Cape Town - As South Africa battles a violent crime surge, it also now appears to be a haven for fugitives, with authorities claiming identity theft make it harder to crack down on promptly on criminals.
The Police Ministry tabled the fourth quarter crime statistics for the 2022/2023 financial year painting a bloody picture of violence.
The fourth quarter covers the period from January to March 2023.
According to the stats, about 6 289 people were killed in the first three months of this year, a 3.4% increase compared to the same period last year.
KwaZulu-Natal led as the province with the most cases recording 1 589 murders, followed by 1 556 in Gauteng, 1 112 Eastern Cape and 872 deaths in the Western Cape.
Guns were the most used weapons in these murders, also knives and even bare hands.
Attempted murders also increased by 8.3% with 6 192 cases reported.
“More boots on the ground are pushing back on criminality through provincial intelligence led operations to take down individuals and criminal syndicates hell-bent on terrorising communities,” said Police Minister Bheki Cele.
Meanwhile organised crimes such as kidnapping also saw an increase. In about 118 reported cases ransom were demanded, 15 reported human trafficking and 11 extortion cases.
This comes on the backdrop of two alleged fugitives being found in Cape Town, one a Bulgarian, Krassimir Kamenov who was on Interpol’s Red Notice and was shot and killed last Thursday.
The country’s Foreign Ministry had confirmed it was maintaining contact with the relevant authorities in South Africa.
Also on Interpol’s Red Notice was Rwandan genocide accused Fulgence Kayishema who appeared in court last week after the Hawks nabbed him in Paarl.
“South Africa is a member of Interpol. We don’t work alone in such cases. The Bulgarian national was on Interpol’s Red Notice and was killed with his wife who is an American national. The arrest of the Rwandan has been a thorn in the flesh of South Africa especially when it comes to the international relationships because he was declared as a highly wanted person for a long time in Rwanda, the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“One can’t deny that it seems that international syndicates have found a home in our country but we cannot deny that we have been making some good in roads in organised crime and all these fugitive cases.
We are also working closely with other countries. While these people seem to find a safe haven here, our law enforcers are working hard to stop and prevent that. Also with a new crime intelligence head we are having more successes ,” said Cele.
The directorate for priority crime investigations (DPCI) head Godfrey Lebeya said part of the challenge they faced was identity theft.
“However a task team was established including the Department of Home Affairs and other stakeholders.”
UCT criminologist Dr Simon Howell said the way authorities were dealing with the issue around wanted persons visiting the country was indicative of clear violation of international agreements for reasons unknown.
“Now fugitives see this and obviously people elsewhere will see South Africa as the best home to settle in compared to other countries.”
Cape Times