Official figures: 2 out of 3 murders in South Africa go unresolved due to lack of evidence
Nearly two-thirds of all murder cases in South Africa remain unsolved due to lack of evidence or leads, according to official figures released by the Democratic Alliance (DA) party on Sunday. Out of approximately 115,000 murder cases between the financial years 2018-2019 and December 2023, over 76,000 were left unsolved.
"This number is remarkably high," said DA MP Lisa Schickerling. She attributed it partly to a shortage of adequately trained detectives, which she said was due to insufficient funding. "The workload of police officers is incredibly high. Most have between 350 and 500 cases," Schickerling, the DA's deputy spokesperson on police matters, told the AFP news agency.
In addition to murder cases, over 61,000 cases of rape and 9,000 cases of kidnapping remained unsolved during this period, as per the data obtained by DA MPs from the police ministry. "This is a shameful state of affairs that demands urgent action," Schickerling said.
South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world: An average of nearly 84 murder cases were recorded daily between October and December 2023.
The DA was once the largest opposition party in South Africa. Now, it is part of the coalition government led by the African National Congress (ANC), which lost its absolute majority for the first time since the end of apartheid in the May parliamentary elections.
Despite the efforts of police officers with overwhelming caseloads, a significant number of murder cases continue to go unsolved in South Africa. Aside from murder cases, over 61,000 rape cases and 9,000 kidnapping cases also remain unsolved, highlighting the extensive backlog of unsolved cases in the country.
