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Staggering EC crime figures shows bloody crime wave continues

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Dear MyPE

The crime statistics released yesterday show that the bloody wave of violent crime continues to sweep through the Eastern Cape, bringing little hope to residents who continue to live in fear of the criminal element that stalks our communities.

Despite bucking the national trend in murders, with a slight decrease of 2,2% year on year, 3 879 people still lost their lives at the hands of criminals in the province. This is just under 11 people a day, on average, in the Eastern Cape, who are losing their lives through violence!

The province has six stations in the murder top 30, including Mthatha at 6th Bethelsdorp at 12th, New Brighton at 21st, Libode at 26th, Lusikisiki at 28th and Motherwell at 30th. Collectively 709 people were murdered in these policing districts between April 2019 and March 2020.

There was a total of 68,545 contact crimes recorded in the Eastern Cape the last financial year.

That’s roughly eight people affected by a contact crime every hour!

Extremely disconcerting is the increase of children in conflict with the law. The province has 11 stations in the top 30, with a total of 115 children charged for murder between them.

We are losing our moral values and basic humanity. There is no longer respect for human life, with our children now engaging in senseless and brutal crimes.

Stock theft is another area of concern, with 6,800 cases reported. The province has eight of the top ten stations for stock theft in the country.

It is clear that SAPS is under-resourced, under-trained, under-equipped and under-staffed which is why the battle to keep the people of the Eastern Cape safe, is being lost.

We need a collective effort from SAPS, the community, businesses, security companies and the municipalities to rebuild effective community police forums that can take back control of our streets.

The DA will continue to fight for a province that is safe and secure, where children can play in the streets, and not resort to crime themselves.

Regards

Bobby Stevenson

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Increase in murder rate

While South Africans recorded fewer violent crimes, murder remains reluctantly stubborn, the 2019/20 crime statistics have revealed.

According to the annual crime statistics released by Police Minister Bheki Cele on Friday, violent crimes particularly murder have been slowing down in the past three years.

The document reveals that between April 2019 and March 2020, 21 325 people were murdered in South Africa, an increase of 1.4% from the previous report.

“Indeed we are not where we want to be, however, we are pleased with the improvements in most stubborn crime categories,” he said.

KwaZulu-Natal remains the province with the highest murders with 4 859 recorded cases followed by Gauteng with 4 555, the Western Cape with 3 975 and Eastern Cape with 3 879.

“KwaZulu-Natal is the capital and recorded the highest number of murders out of all the nine provinces, which increased by 10.6%,” he said.

According to Cele, Umlazi and Inanda townships are the murder hotspots in the KwaZulu-Natal.

“KZN also recorded an increase in sexual offences and trio crimes. Operational interventions are in place to stabilise KZN; including strengthening the resources under Operation Vala in KwaZulu-Natal.”

Meanwhile, the Western Cape is showing some improvements with statistics indicating that specialised policing in targeted areas does produce results.

For the first time in many years, Nyanga Police Station recorded a 36.0% decrease in murder. “Even last year there was a decrease. We are indeed turning the tide against crime.”

Meanwhile, in attempted murder, Gauteng tops the statistics with 4 639 cases, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 4 161, the Western Cape with 3 555 and Eastern Cape with 2 409.

Seventy-three police officers who were killed of which 35 were murdered on duty and 38 off-duty.

Also, on the 17 community reported crimes; the police recorded a visible decrease of 2.7% as compared to an increase of 0.7 % last year.

Meanwhile, the Minister said last year the police deployed intervention measures to deal with stock theft. This proved to be yielding positive results, as stock theft has recorded a decrease of 4.2%.

There has been a drop in property-related crimes, where all crimes under this category indicated a major decrease – including a burglary at residential premises which has declined by 6.7%.

Furthermore, robbery at residential properties has also recorded a decrease of 5.8%.

Effect of COVID-19

The Minister said the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically redefined traditional policing.

He said social distancing is the new normal; effecting an arrest and a deployment at a Community Service Centre suddenly demands a different standard operating procedure.

“All men and women in blue in the Republic of South Africa collided with the drastic turn of events and had to immediately adjust whilst focused on serving and protecting the nation.”

In the call of duty during this pandemic, the SAPS lost a total number of 113 police officers, while 12 138 have contracted the virus with 254 hospitalised and 4 904 recoveries.

“We would like to pay our respect and salute the role of our departed members in the fight against crime. We also want to convey our sincere condolences to their families, their children, spouses and colleagues,” said Cele. – SAnews.gov.za

Sexual offences increase by 1.7%

The cases for sexual offences have increased by 1.7% when compared to the previous year.

According to crimes statistics released by Police Minister, General Bheki Cele, on Friday, in 2018/2018 the total cases of sexual offences stood at 52 420 and they increased in 2019/2020 to 53 293. This translates to an increase of 873 cases.

The Minister said certain categories of sexual offences recorded a decrease while other categories are on the increase.

The crime statistics show that cases of attempted sexual offences decreased as in 2018/2019 a total of 2 146 cases were reported while 2 076 cases were reported in 2019/2020.

Figures for contact sexual offences show that in 2018/2019 a total of 1 254 cases were reported and in 2019/2020 the number of cases stood at 1 179.

Cases of rape increased by 706. In 2018/2019, a total of 41 583 rape cases were reported while in 2019/2020 the number of cases stood at 42 289.

A total of 7 437 sexual assault cases were reported in 2018/2019 and 7 749 cases were reported in 2019/2020.

The Minister expressed concern at the number of sexual violence cases being reported at educational institutions. “It is of concern that educational institutions are becoming hotbeds for sexual violence, 380 cases of rape were reported at either schools, universities, colleges or day care facilities.”

“Fellow South Africans, this category of crime has terrorised most households and communities as most of these crimes happen behind closed doors and only publicised when the offence has been committed and in most cases when victims of crimes are no more,” Cele said.

The Minister called on the private sector as well as gender activists’ organisations to work with government to defeat gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).

“Awareness campaigns on GBVF must be intensified; private sector and gender activists’ organisations must work together with government to defeat the scourge and expose perpetrators in this regard,” Cele said.

Aggravated robbery

Meanwhile, under the sub categories of aggravated robbery; robbery of cash in transit vehicles recorded a decrease of 10.4% and bank robberies declined by 100%.

“During the period under review, there were no bank robberies in South Africa. However, in the same category, carjacking and truck hijacking have recorded an increase of 13.3% and 1.7% respectively.

“Operational interventions have been deployed accordingly to address the growing increase,” the Minister said.

A total of 16 026 cases carjacking were reported in 2018/2019 and increased to 18 162 cases in 2019/2020.

Cases for truck hijacking stood at 1 182 in 2018/2019 and increased to 1 202 the following year.

In 2018/2019 a total of 183 cases for robbery of cash in transit were recorded while in 2019/2020 the figure decreased to 164.

Cases reported for robbery at residential premises stood at 22 431 in 2018/2019 while 21 130 cases were reported in 2019/2020.

A total of 19 991 cases of robbery at non-residential premises were recorded in 2018/2019 and 20 651 cases were recorded in 2019/2020. – SAnews.gov.za

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