Chapter 15

ATTEMPTED MURDER

In 1998, 29 418 attempted murders occurred in South Africa, of which 74.7% were committed with a firearm.



In this research, conclusions are drawn from 93 incidents analysed, which comprised 11.8% of the docket sample.



The vast majority of attempted murders occurred ‘after hours’ or at night. It was found that 39.1% of attempted murder incidents occurred between 08h00 and 24h00, and a further 20.7% occurred between 00h00 and 08h00.



The majority of attempted murders occurred in residential areas: private residential properties (35.6%), public residential spaces (33.3%), and the central business district or inner city area (22.2%). It is significant that few attempted murders (3.3%) occur at places of entertainment or recreation, as is the case with murder (12.3%).



Usually, the victim of the crime (68.8%) reported it to the police, or alternatively, the police reported the crime (23.7%). For instance, if the victim is injured, the police will go to the hospital to record the victim’s statement for the investigation.



It was found that 53.8% of all attempted murder incidents are undetected and, in 37.6% of cases, the complaints were withdrawn.



One fine was imposed to the value of less than R1 000 and two of R5 000 or more. Three prison sentences were handed down of between three to nine years each.



Of the 93 attempted murder incidents, 207 people were involved: 101 offenders, 103 victims and three intervening third parties. On average, 2.6 people were involved in each incident. For every one incident, 1.09 offenders and 1.1 victims were involved. The ratio of victims to offenders is 1:0.98.



In 74.2% of incidents, victims and offenders did not know one another, in 16.1% of cases, they were acquainted, and in 9.7% of incidents, they knew one another well.



In the 93 attempted murders, 103 firearms and three other weapons were involved. Of the firearms involved, 77 were held by offenders, 14 by victims and one was in the possession of a third party intervening.



It was found that 98.9% of offenders were male. The race profile of the sample of offenders was as follows: 3.8% white; 8.9% Asian; 74.7% coloured; and 12.7% African. There was insufficient information to provide a valid profile of the age, vocation or employment status of offenders.



It was found that 78.4% of attempted murder victims were male and 21.6% were female. The race profile of victims was as follows: 3.9% white; 13.7% African; 76.5% coloured; and 5.9% Asian. In terms of age, 22.5% were between the ages of 16 to 20 years, 29.2% between 21 to 30 years and 42.7% between 31 to 50 years.



It was found that 76.2% of offenders had firearms, 21.8% had no weapon and 2% had another type of weapon (such as a knife or panga). The majority of offenders carried handguns: 78.8% carried pistols and 15.2% carried revolvers. It was found that 6.1% of offenders carried shotguns. Twelve (out of 77) offenders used licenced firearms.



It was found that 14 (13.6%) of the 103 victims carried firearms. Victims all carried handguns.



In 94.3% of cases, violence was used, in 2.3% only threats were used and, in 3.4% of cases, no violence or threats were necessary to attempt the murder. Of the 103 victims, 56.3% were injured. It was found that 42.7% of injuries were inflicted by firearms, 11.7% of victims were slightly injured and 1.9% were emotionally injured. Of the 101 offenders, 6.9% of the offenders were slightly injured.



In only 1% of cases were items reportedly stolen from victims of attempted murder incidents.