Police spokesperson, Dimakatso Mooi, says the fatal stabbings occurred in the Upington residential areas of Rosedale and Pabalello on Saturday (September 28). 

In the first stabbing a 40-year-old man was killed in an apparent revenge attack, by a 36-year-old man whose brother had allegedly been attacked and stabbed by the deceased prior in Rosedale. The perpetrator remains at large and police have launched a murder investigation.

In September 2019, the head of police crime research and statistics, Norman Sekhukhune, revealed in a presentation on the country’s crime statistics for the 2018/19 financial year that high alcohol and drug abuse may be linked to the fact that 60% of the murders committed in the country occur over weekends. This may be the case in the second fatal stabbing in Pabalello where Mooi explains a 32-year-old man was stabbed to death during a fight at a tavern on Saturday as well. She says police did manage to make an arrest in connection with the latter, murder, apprehending a 28-year-old man for the fatal stabbing.

In the third incident, a man residing in Delportshoop was stabbed in a house robbery. The three suspects in the matter entered the victim’s house and demanded money at knife point. They stabbed the victim and fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of money. They were tracked down by police the same day as the incident and arrested. She says the Delportshoop victim is still recovering in a local hospital from the stabbing.

South Africa has seen an increase in the murder rate by 3,4% over 2018/19, something which is a point of concern. Sekhukhune revealed in his presentation that the vast majority of weapons used in murders and attempted murders is guns, knives and sharp objects – in that order. He said this is a trend that could be seen throughout the country except for the Northern Cape where knives were the weapons most used in attempted murders, ahead of guns and sharp objects. Despite this, The Free State and Northern Cape’s murder rate declined by more than 5%, while the North West’s murder rate increased by 1,2% over 2018/19, as compared to the rest of the country.

OFM News