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Eastern Cape Plagued With Violent Crime

By

Dear Editor

The crime statistics for the fourth quarter of the 2022/23 financial year, between January and March, released earlier today, show that violent crime continues to stalk the Eastern Cape.

Terrified residents continue to barricade themselves in at night, particularly during loadshedding. The township areas of Nelson Mandela Bay have become crime hotspots for the Eastern Cape, with several township-based police stations featuring on lists of the top 30 police stations in the country for high-profile crimes.

Likewise, the Panga gang continues to strike fear into the residents of the western suburbs of Nelson Mandela Bay.

The Eastern Cape government needs to develop a comprehensive safety plan to rescue this province from its downward spiral of violent crime.

Murder has again shown an increase, up 6.4% compared to last year, with 1112 people tragically losing their lives in the province. The province still has the highest murder rate in the country, with 16.7 murders per 100 000.

Nelson Mandela Bay has become the hotspot for murder in the province, with five of the top 30 stations in the country, namely New Brighton, Bethelsdorp, KwaZakele, Motherwell, and KwaNobuhle, all within the metro precinct.

Carjackings increased by 12.3%, with 365 cases recorded, with New Brighton a hotspot, and truck hijackings increased by 35.7%.

There has also been a worrying trend of residential robberies, increasing by 24.7%, to 555 cases in three months. This could be attributed to criminals becoming more brazen as the loadshedding crisis deepens. Kwazakele, New Brighton and Motherwell are all in the top 30 stations.

The Democratic Alliance welcomes police minister Bheki Cele’s announcement of R6.5 million to strengthen Community Policing Forums (CPF) across the province. Only by working together will we be able to turn the tide of violent crime that is unabatedly sweeping across the Eastern Cape.

By empowering communities to work with the SAPS, resources can be directed to where they are most needed. It is vital, however, that these funds end up in the right hands and not the wrong pockets, and the DA will be monitoring the rollout closely.

Aside from bolstering CPF structures, the DA calls for provincial SAPS to work with municipalities to roll out Shotspotter technologies in hotspot areas and establish a vast network of CCTV cameras to bolster crime-fighting operations. There should also be a rollout of hi-tech mobile surveillance vehicles.

The DA will continue to fight for a well-resourced police service that utilises modern technologies to keep communities safe.

Regards

Bobby Stevenson MPL
DA EC Shadow MEC for Community Safety

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Port Elizabethan

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