SA 'close to being a war zone'
The police minister says South Africa is not far from being a war zone at the rate at which murders are taking place.
The crime statistics for the 2017/2018 period have revealed the murder rate nationally - was up nearly 7%.
A total of 20 336 people were murdered in South Africa during this period.
Cele says they are plotting a way forward.
"I have said to the members of the South African police - never again will we come here and give such statistics. It cannot be that South Africans are placed under such fear and stress," he said.
National Police Commissioner Khehla Sithole says they are bringing back specialised units to normalise the situation.
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"My directive as we are starting the festive season is to kick off with a serious and violent crimes specialised unit to respond to both murders, taxi violence and gang-related crimes," Sithole said.
Provincially, KZN recorded the highest number of murders out of all the provinces - with an a 9.2 percent increase in the provincial murder rate.
Durban's Inanda remained at the top of the list for the highest number of reported rape cases nationally for a second year - despite the 278 cases being a 10 percent drop from the previous period.
Umlazi in the south recorded the second highest number of reported rape cases in the country - at 252.
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Violence monitor and analyst, Mary de Haas is not surprised by these rape stats.
"They're very big areas, firstly. So we don't have any comparative data per 100 000. But at the same time, I know that historically they've been among the top areas for violent crimes including against women. So I'm not really surprised," de Haas said.