Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has backtracked on its accusation that the Cape Argus erroneously reported that 44 murders had happened in the metro over the weekend.
Following the article’s publication on Tuesday, mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith put out a statement in which he said the police confirmed that the numbers referred to murders in the entire province and not just the metro and that the figure was incorrect.
“It is important to note that the number of murders mentioned in the report relates to the entire Western Cape rather than the City of Cape Town, as confirmed by the SAPS.”
Later, speaking to the Cape Argus, Smith said he heard provincial police commissioner Arno Lamoer speaking about the murders on radio and based his statement on that.
However, after speaking to the head of UCT’s Clinical Laboratory Services, Lorna Martin, he agreed that the Cape Argus report was correct.
“SAPS said the figure was incorrect, but I spoke to Lorna Martin and she assured me that the figure was correct.”
Smith said he was “inclined” to believe that Martin’s numbers were correct as she dealt with the stats “first hand”.
Martin also stood by her previous statement, saying that the 44 bodies, brought into the Salt River and Tygerberg mortuaries, were murdered within the metro.
Among those murdered 29 were stabbed, 12 were shot and three were victims of assault and blunt trauma.
Lamoer told the Cape Argus that he did not mention any figures when he spoke on the radio as that was the job of the Police Minister.
“I am sick and tired of politicians talking about (police) operational duties… I don’t confirm or deny any figures, the stats can only be confirmed by the Minister of Police when he releases the crime stats and that is usually around September.”
The allegations of the Cape Argus getting their facts “incorrect” was quickly believed by many and lead to various comments on the IOL site and on Twitter.
@Zilevandamme tweeted: “That figure relates to the whole of the WCape, the journos got it wrong. This is not to say , of course, that the figure is ok.”
To which @Braam_Hanekom tweeted: “Are you saying that the @CapeArgus was wrong? I trust you read this reputable daily newspaper.”
Independent Newspapers Cape editor-in-chief Chris Whitfield said the sceptics who believed the facts were incorrect should check their facts first.
“Mr Smith, the ‘Twitterati’ and others who followed his lead will be well advised to do as the Cape Argus does, and check their facts.”
Cape Argus