Contact-related crimes make up 41.4% of all charges

Over 40% of all crimes reported in the past year‚ were contact crimes‚ Police commissioner Riah Phiyega said on Tuesday.

Releasing the 2014/15 crime statistics‚ Phiyega said 1‚795947-million charges were laid by South Africans in the past year. These included contact crimes‚ property crime‚ and other serious crime.

Contact and contact-related crimes totalled 41.4% of all these charges‚ while property-related crimes made up 30.8% and other serious crimes 27.8 percent.

A further 356919 charges were made as a result of police action such as drug searches and roadblocks.

Phiyega said an additional sub-category had been added this year‚ which included sexual offences recorded as a result of police action‚ such as charges for prostitution and possession of pornography. – Parliament Bureau, RDM News Wire