Gauteng crime statistics: 7,202 of 22,243 arrests involve undocumented foreign nationals

During the quarter under review, the Domestic Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Crimes Unit arrested 1,031 suspects of sexual crimes.

Of the 22,243 arrests made in Gauteng between July and September this year, 7,202 were of undocumented foreign nationals.

This was revealed by the Provincial Commissioner of Police, Lieutenant-General Tommy Mthombeni, during the presentation of crime statistics for the second quarter of the 2024/25 financial year. Mthombeni was speaking to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Social Security.

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) said earlier this month that it had conducted a nationwide tour of South African prisons in September and October to assess their operational capacity and human resources.

In response to a parliamentary question, DCS revealed that as of October 2024, the number of foreigners covered by the prison service system was approximately 18,000.

This number includes both sentenced prisoners and those awaiting sentence.

Of the 22,243 arrests:

69 arrests were for murder
102 arrests in connection with aggravated robbery
1,115 arrests for GBH assault (grievous bodily harm) and 966 arrests for common assault
3,251 suspects arrested for drug-related crimes
3,149 suspects detained or driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
294 suspects were arrested for illegal possession of firearms and/or ammunition

Recoveries:

238 firearms (22 rifles, five shotguns and 211 revolvers/pistols)
3,480 different types of ammunition
223 dangerous weapon
138 hijacked/stolen vehicles and vehicles used to commit crimes
173,117 kilograms of various types of drugs
23,118 kilograms of cables (necessary infrastructure)
90,305 liters of alcohol
487,024 counterfeit or illegal goods

Gauteng contributed to 26.9% of the country’s total crimes, representing a reduction in the number of charges by 6,525. There were 108,741 such crimes recorded in the second quarter of 2023, and 102,216 in the same period of 2024, representing a decline in overall crime by 6%.

This category includes offenses such as murder, attempted murder, GBH and common assault, as well as aggravated robbery.

Gauteng managed to record a decline of 7.6% in this category.

Nine police stations in Gauteng are in the top 30 nationally for contact crimes, with only one – Roodepoort – seeing an increase.

The number of murders, attempted murders and assault crimes has fallen. However, sexual crimes, especially rape and sexual assault, have seen an increase.

Eight Gauteng police stations are in the top 30 nationally for murders, with five of them seeing an increase – JHB Central, Roodepoort, Orange Farm, Germiston and Evaton.

Gauteng also recorded a decline in arson, malicious damage to property, residential burglaries, business burglaries, motor vehicle theft, theft from or from motor vehicles and theft of goods.

Sexual crimes

During the quarter under review, the domestic violence, child protection and sexual crimes unit arrested 1,031 suspects of sexual crimes.

To date, of the 155 cases pending in court, 130 sex offenders have been sentenced to a total of 27 life sentences and 1,042 years in prison.

One of the cases involves serial rapist, Nkosinathi Emmanuel Phakathi, known as the “Benoni Serial Rapist”, who was convicted on 148 charges, including 90 for rape and 43 for kidnapping.

The court sentenced him on October 4, 2024 to 42 life sentences and an additional 791 years and six months in prison.

Eleven police stations in Gauteng were in the top 30 for sexual offenses in the country, with seven of them reporting a decline.

For rape, 10 Gauteng police stations were in the top 30, with eight seeing an increase.