Senzo Mchunu Fires Warning at Criminals Who Challenge Police After Releasing Grim Crime Stats

• Over 6 100 people have been murdered in South Africa in the past three months, according to the latest crime stats
• Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu has issued a warning to criminals to continue to challenge the law of the country
• South African citizens believe that the crime stats will never get better unless police start to do things different

Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has spent a decade reporting on the South African political landscape, crime and social issues. You can email him at byron.pillay@briefly.co.za.

CAPE TOWN— Senzo Mchunu has vowed to crack down on crime in the country despite the challenges police face.

The Minister of Police made the comments after releasing the quarterly crime statistics for April to June.

During his speech, Mchunu painted a grim picture of crime in the country. The official stats can be found on the SAPS website.

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Over the three months, more than 6,100 people were murdered in the country. The police stations with the highest number of murder cases in the country all come from the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Gauteng provinces.

"Crime is generally on the increase. Crimes that should worry us most are murder, rape, hijacking, kidnapping for ransom payments and extortion," Mchunu said during his address.

Police minister warns trigger-happy criminals

While promising to clamp down on crime, Mchunu warned extortionists that the police were onto them.

He also had a special message for criminals who shoot at police, saying that if they challenged police, they were challenging the state.

In recent months, the police minister has also vowed that SAPS would improve its technology to fight crime. Plans are also in place to hire more officers.

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SAPS plans to hire 10,000 more members, a decision that many netizens criticised. They expressed concerns about whether new recruits would receive adequate compensation and the right resources.

Citizens lose faith in the police

Following the release of the stats, social media users expressed their lack of faith in the police’s ability to tackle the escalating crime rate.

@Bruce5403579361 blamed corrupt officers when he said:

“Your members don't abide by the code of conduct, they accept bribes everywhere. You can have 10 cases today and only five will appear in court. The others, your members will remove important statements from. You need to fix that first if you are to combat crime."

@kimmojvs blatantly asked:

“Can they be trusted?”

@mr_guluva compared it to the situation in Palestine:

“6 198 people were murdered in SA between April and June. That’s an average of almost 69 per day, or three every hour. This is scary. It’s like we are in the Gaza war.”

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@UnityInSA didn’t think things would change when the next stats are released:

“The war against crime was lost a long time ago. The government has not really done anything of significance to reduce crime drastically. What’s needed is something out of the ordinary. The next quarterly results will simply be a regurgitation of similar stats.”

@1MichelleDosSan couldn’t believe the figures released:

“These stats are beyond shocking.”

4 Killed in Milnerton shooting

As promised by Mchunu, police remain committed to combatted crime, as evidenced in Milnerton, Cape Town.

Briefly News earlier reported that police killed four suspects who were allegedly en route to a mass shooting.

South Africans applauded the police for their efforts, saying they were thrilled SAPS prevented a future crime.

Source: Briefly News