The number of murders in Limpopo has increased, while the number of murders in South Africa overall has dropped.

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa released the crime statistics of the South African Police Service last week for the year April 2008 to March 2009.

In Limpopo, 751 murders were reported, compared to 696 in the previous financial year, representing a 7.9% increase. Out of every 100 000 persons of the population, 14.2 were murdered. Although the number of murders has increased and every murder is one too many, the crime ratio for mur-der per 100 000 of the population is still the lowest in the country. In South Africa, 18148 people were murdered, with KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Eastern Cape and Western Cape topping the list. The Northern Cape has the lowest incidence of murder, namely 411 cases, but their murder/crime ratio is nearly as high as that of Gauteng.

House robberies have increased in South Africa by 27%. House robberies affected people from all walks of life and were not restricted to wealthy areas and the minister expressed his concern, Sapa reported. In Limpopo, robbery at residential premises escalated by 61%, compared to the previous year and 242% compared to 2003/4.

There were 514 house robberies reported in Limpopo in the latest statistical year.

House robbery is described as the crime where two or more armed individuals enter a private residence by force while the people who live or work there are present and the pri-mary motivation for the crime is robbery.

House burglary or house breaking is when the house is burgled while the people of the house are unaware of it. There were 12 398 burglaries at residential premises reported in the Limpopo and 246 616 in South Africa. In Limpopo, 235 out of every 100 000 of the population experienced a house burglary, making it one of the most commonly experienced crimes in the province.

Property-related crime formed 24.2% of the crime statistics of the province.

Contact crime accounted for 35.1% of all crime in the province. This category is against the person and is generally associated with violence, such as murder and attempted murder, sexual crimes, assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, as well as common assault, robbery with aggravating circumstances and common robbery. The incidences of three of the seven contact crimes have decreased (both types of assault and common robbery). In the country overall, five of the seven contact crimes have decreased.

Although the numbers of both types of assault have dropped, it is very alarming that assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm accounts for 13.1% and common assault for 9.7% of all crime in the province.

Burglary at residential premises accounted for 12.3%, and theft mentioned under the category “all theft not mentioned elsewhere” accounted for 17.8% of all crime in the province.

In total, 100 390 cases were reported in Limpopo.