By Siyabonga Mkhwanazi
Cape Town - Police Minister Bheki Cele has indicated an increase in mass murders in the country, with two or more people getting killed in single incidents over the last three years.
Cele said there were 438 incidents of mass killings in the 2019/20 financial year; this number has increased to 701 incidents of mass killings by December last year.
In the last few months there have been mass shootings in the country, with 16 people killed in a Soweto tavern.
In February this year a total of 18 people were killed in different parts of the Eastern Cape in mass shootings.
Cele said the number of mass murders in South Africa has been on the rise since 2019.
He said in the 2019/20 financial year a total of 1 000 people were murdered in mass killings and this resulted in a number of people being arrested.
Cele, who was replying to a written parliamentary question from Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Groenewald, said out of those incidents, 50 people were found guilty in court.
The minister said in the following financial year more than 1 200 people were murdered in mass killings across the country.
This resulted in a total of 37 people being convicted in court for these crimes.
In the 2021/22 financial year there were more than 1 700 people murdered in mass killings, and only 13 have been tried in court and convicted.
Cele said between April and December last year more than 1 600 people have been murdered in mass killings in the country.
To date almost 400 people have been arrested for those cases, but only three have been found guilty.
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