Johannesburg — ORGANISED crime in SA is exploding, with police reporting a 74% rise in cash-in-transit heists and increases in bank robberies, car hijackings and car theft, dramatically reinforcing public scepticism about the ability of law enforcement authorities to overcome crime syndicates.

Statistics released yesterday in Pretoria by Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula for the 2005-06 financial year confirmed what business leaders have been saying for months: the high- profile crimes that shape local and international sentiment about SA's future are rising fast.

Crime overall decreased 9% during the year 2005-06 compared with the same period in 2004-05. Attempted murder, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, common assault and common robbery met government targets by decreasing more than 10%. But murder, with a decrease of 2%; rape, with a decrease of 1%; indecent assault down 3,7% and robbery with aggravating circumstances (down 6,2%) missed the target.

The data on organised crimes and murder, considered the most reliable measures of the police's ability to respond to crime, were regarded by crime experts as disappointing.

Chris de Kock, head of the police's Crime Information Analysis Centre, admitted yesterday that the figures were "extremely worrying".

He said, however, that the actual incidents of crime were relatively low. "It must be borne in mind that when working with very low figures, the percentage factor is high," he said.

De Kock said organised crime statistics tended to be quite volatile as police were constantly arresting syndicate kingpins and runners which destroyed syndicates, and new syndicates were being formed.

Institute for Security Studies senior researcher Antoinette Louw said statistics from these two categories were "particularly alarming" because of the emphasis placed on them when reviewing police performance.

Murder fell 2% from 18793 last year to 18528, missing by a long way government's target of a 7%-10% decline.

Louw said the statistics were disappointing considering that murder had seen a 41% drop since 1994.

"This could suggest that murder is stabilising but at a very high rate -- 40 per 100000 South Africans -- compared with international figures," she said.

The statistics released yesterday do not include the crime wave that started in May, which prompted a meeting between heads of business and President Thabo Mbeki.

Motor vehicle and motorcycle theft went from 83857 incidents in 2004-05 to an increase of 1,8% or 85964 in 2005-06, while car hijacking rose 3,1% from 12434 incidents to 12825 last year.

Bank robbery was up 1,7% from 58 to 59 and cash-in-transit heists went from 220 to 383.

Cash-in-transit heists, according to the statistics, occurred more than once a day. Statistics also showed business robberies were up 32% while residential robberies had increased 8,3%. The biggest victims were businesses situated along streets.

Nqakula said the police had had a number of successes when it came to the arrest of repeat offenders involved in serious and violent crimes, with 234 people being arrested for 206 crimes. He said the safety and security department had also prioritised policing on borders, beefing up staff and installing hi-tech satellite equipment to reduce cross-border crime.

Business Against Crime CEO Siphiwe Nzimande said while the crime statistics showed steady progress in some areas, these tended to overshadow negative crime trends most notably in respect of serious and violent crime instigated by organised crime syndicates.