Stats Reveal Role Of Alcohol In Violent Crime

The latest crime statistics released on Friday showed that murder, sexual offences, and taxi-related murders were still on the rise.

In his briefing, he laid out that Alcohol played a role in 8.4% of violent crimes between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020.

Police Minister Bheki Cele has in recent months, enforced and lobbied for the banning of alcohol.

The statistics found that liquor outlets were third on the list of places where violent crimes occurred, after residences and public places like open areas, parks, streets, beaches and abandoned buildings.

The declaration of a state of disaster, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, empowered government to ban or limit the sale of alcohol, which was duly implemented.

In April, he attributed the decrease in crime to the prohibition of liquor, heightened security and the lack of usual movement during the lockdown.

He said murder cases dropped by 1 110 cases since 27 March, compared to crime in the period from 29 March 2019 to 22 April 2019.