90% of murder dockets were unsolved in 2023 - Violence Prevention Expert

Bongani Bingwa speaks with Gareth Newham, Head of Justice and Violence Prevention at the Institute for Security Studies.

Listen to the interview using the audio player below.

South Africa was devastated by a recent case in which a five-year-old was shot and killed by criminal thugs trying to steal his father’s car.

What makes it worse is that there is a good chance the case may never be solved.

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Saps abandoned 5.4 million cases in the last five years, averaging around 3000 a day.

Newham says murder cases must be the top priority of the police service.

Almost 90% of murder dockets last year were closed as undetected, meaning they were unsolved.

“As long as people are being killed and murdered, you are not going to have a community that is keen to work with the police and criminals will feel they have the upper hand.”

- Gareth Newham, Justice and Violence Prevention - Institute for Security Studies

Many violent criminals are repeat offenders, and Newham says they must be identified and stopped if we want to get crime under control.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.