Crime file picture: Gerd Altman/Pixabay
The annual first quarter crime statistics were released by new Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, last Friday August 30. The first quarter crime statistics reflect all crimes from the period April to June this year and Mr Mchunu says the numbers tell a “sobering story.”
“Crime is generally on the increase, crimes that should worry us most are: murder, rape, hijacking, kidnapping for ransom payments, and extortion,” he says.
Mr Mchunu is concerned that four of the nine provinces recorded increases in murder cases, with the highest increase recorded in the Western Cape, followed by North West, then the Eastern Cape and Limpopo. In the Western Cape, the police stations which included the highest murder rate in the country is Nyanga, while other stations like Khayelitsha, Delft, Philippi East, Mfuleni and Kraaifontein made the top 10 list for highest murder rates in the country.
Police stations in the southern suburbs paint a slightly different picture.
At Woodstock police station, they experienced a drop in property-related crimes, where theft of motorcycles and motor vehicles went from 63 cases last year to 35 cases this year.
There was also a drop in theft out of motor vehicles where there were 136 cases reported last year compared to 100 reported this year.
Woodstock police are concerned that there were three reported cases of kidnapping this year compared to one last year, while there were two murders reported this year compared to none reported last year during the same period.
Station commander, Colonel Delven Matroos, says the release of the crime statistics help their police build a good relationship with the community. “It is to be transparent, gain trust in the community and to redress what was not achieved,” he says.
Colonel Matroos also thanked partners like the Woodstock Community Policing Forum (CPF), Law Enforcement, and the different Community Improvement Districts(CIDs) for the success they had experienced in combating some crimes.
At Mowbray police station, they experienced three murder cases this year, compared to one case last year, while common assault has dropped from 20 cases last year to nine cases this year.
In the property-related crime category, Mowbray police experienced a rise where burglary at residential premises increased by over 50% – there were 24 cases last year compared to 51 cases this year. Theft out of motor vehicles also increased where there were 34 cases last year compared to 59 cases this year.
Mowbray CPF chairperson, Jonathan Hobday, says crime in the Mowbray police precinct is generally on the rise, but this is mainly in the CBD area, where the blights of homelessness and drug-dealing are pervasive. “All the reported murders, for example, appear to be related to drug/gang activities,” he says.
He says that Mowbray police station is also hampered by a severe lack of requisite members. “They are constrained by up to a third shortage of staff complement. As a result, regular visible policing is below standard,” he says.
He says that Mowbray police do receive support from different CIDs and private security in fighting crime.
At Claremont police station, four rape cases were reported this year, compared to none last year.
Robbery with aggravating circumstances dropped from 44 last year to 33 this year, while commercial crime has seen a rise from 117 cases last year to 138 cases this year.
In crime detected due to police action, the police made 69 arrests in drug-related crimes compared to 30 in the same period.
Claremont police station commander, Colonel Maree Louw, says they have a reduction in their crime overall, “which is pleasing and tells them that they do something right in terms of their deployment.”
“Since the hot spot deployment was initiated by our City of Cape District Commander our crime decreased because of the visibility in the hot spots,” she says.
With regards to the rape statistics, Colonel Louw says that they want these type of cases to be reported. “Women should feel free to report rape cases and not keep quiet about it. We can rather sit with a high reporting total than women keeping quiet,” she says.
At Pinelands police station, they have seen a drop in property-related crimes, where burglary at residential premises dropped by nearly 50% – there were 40 cases reported last year compared to 21 cases this year.
Theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles has also seen a drop where 17 cases were reported last year compared to 10 this year.
Pinelands police did, however, experience an increase in theft out of motor vehicles where there were 50 reported cases this year compared to 38 last year.
Commercial crime experienced a massive drop of nearly 45% where there are only 71 reported cases this year compared to 129 cases last year.
At Rondebosch police station, common robbery went up to 13 cases compared to seven last year;.
While they have experienced a drop in theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles, where there were 44 cases last year compared to 23 this year, they have seen a rise in theft out of motor vehicles that went up by over 47% , with 127 cases reported this year, compared to 86 cases reported last year.
In crimes detected by police action, there were 10 arrests made for drug-related crimes this year, compared to two last year.