Crime Stats: KZN has second highest murder rate
Police say alcohol plays a major role in murders in KZN.
Minister Fikile Mbalula and the police's top brass yesterday presented the crime stats for the 2016/2017 financial year in Parliament earlier.
Acting National Police Commissioner, Lesetja Mothiba says alcohol was found to have played a role 18.5% of murder cases in the province.
"The province reported that 41 murders occurred on Christmas Day 2016 and a further 47 murders occurred on New Year's Day. These are normally days where people are involved in high alcohol consumption activities. These figures might be linked to that phenomenon," he says.
ALSO READ: INFOGRAPHIC: KZN Crime Stats 2016/17
The number of murders in KZN increased by 2.2% to just over 4000 in the last year - making it the province with the second highest number of murders in the country after Gauteng.
Nationally, the number of murders increased to 19 016.
Mothiba says social interactions that go wrong are a also driving up the crime rate.
"This seems to indicate that many people do not possess the necessary social skills to solve differences in an amicable way. In many instances, there was no intention to kill but the offender acted in the spur of the moment without foreseeing the outcome of their actions," he says.
In general, crime in the country came down by 1.8%.