MyPE

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Could it be that 543 785 people were wrongfully arrested?

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Releasing the National Crime Statistics on Thursday, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said there were 896 298 serious crime arrests in 2012/13 compared to 777 140 during the 2011/12 reporting period.

Police convicted 352 513 people for serious crimes, while there were 307 580 convictions in 2011/12.

Serious crimes include:

  • Crimes against a person (contact crime)
  • Crimes against property (burglary, motor vehicle theft etc. where a person is not present)
  • Commercial and financial crimes (fraud, corruption etc.)
  • Crime detected by police action – these are detected through direct police action, such as roadblocks and SAPS intelligence operations. (e.g. Illegal possession of firearms and drugs, DUI)

South Africa is estimated to have a population approaching 52 Million.

The 896 298 arrests for serious crimes represents 1.72% of our population who have been arrested. Take out the children, infirm and already incarcerated persons and that percentage will be much higher.

Is it possible that 46.16 of the 2 684 followers of the MyPE Twitter account have been arrested for a serious crime? Should I ask each of them to prove that they are not criminals?

BUT, of those 896 298 arrests  total of 352 513 people were convicted (I realise that some of those number will be from a previous reporting period, but some of those 896 298 people will be convicted in the next reporting period).

Could it be that 543 785 (60.67%) people were wrongfully arrested and had to be released? Is the low conviction rate attributable to poor policing or a poor legal system?

South Africa’s prison population as at 20 August 2013 stood at 156 370 inmates – more than a quarter of whom (43 954) are awaiting-trial prisoners – figures provided to Parliament by Correctional Services Minister Sibusiso Ndebele.

Now this is where another anomaly rears it’s ugly head:

For the reporting period in question the Police Minister reports that there have been 352 513 convictions, whilst the correctional services minister says that there are 156 370 prison inmates. Bear in mind that the total prison population is an absolute number and the number of convictions is only related to a fixed period – i.e. like interest it accumulates year on year.

My question is simple – “What have you done with the ‘missing’ 196 143 convicted criminals Sibusiso?“

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.