Durban — Despite Police Minister Bheki Cele’s confidence that the law enforcement agency was turning the tide against crime, the recent crime statistics show that the province remains a living hell and police are losing the battle.
This was revealed by Sharon Hoosen, DA KZN spokesperson on community safety and liaison.
Hoosen said the scourge of politically motivated killings and the rise in the number of police officers murdered during the three-month period is a concern.
“There are no solutions to address the blatant criminality, no plans for intelligence gathering or any other positive measures,” she said.
KZN Violence Monitor Mary de Haas said she was concerned about the reliability of the quarterly crime statistics, “which are not independently audited”.
She said it was difficult to analyse three months’ worth of statistics to determine whether crime was increasing or decreasing.
“Assault, rape and robbery are probably far worse because most crime is not reported whether it is petty or serious,” she said.
The latest quarterly crime statistics revealed that Inanda in KwaZulu-Natal became the murder capital in South Africa with 93 killings, followed by uMlazi, 59 and KwaMashu 52.
On Friday, Cele released the crime statistics from the 1163 police stations, for the third quarter – October to December 2023. The statistics represent the number of charges; not the number of case dockets registered. Contact crimes increased from 29 767 between October and December 2022 to 31 555 for the same period in 2023.
Statistics revealed that 1 135 women and 285 children were murdered. A staggering 18474 assault GBH cases were recorded by women.
The stats showed murder stood at 7710 nationally while KZN was at 1649. The cause of murders were believed to be misunderstandings, road rage and provocation.
Sexual assault was at 15 248 nationally, while KZN was at 2 623.
There was a significant decline in the number rape cases reported in uMlazi, 64, and Inanda, 63.
Robbery with aggravating circumstances: national 40 331, KZN 6 769.
In the provincial top 30 station list on reported serious crimes, Durban Central had 2 511, followed by Phoenix 1 903, Chatsworth 1 768, Plessislaer 1713 and Pinetown 1 629.
Burglary in residential areas – Plessislaer 228, Mountain Rise 202; Margate/Inanda 193 and Chatsworth 176.
Theft of motor vehicle and motorcycle: Durban Central 159, Chatsworth 121, Phoenix 104, Umbilo 90.
Aidan David, chairperson of the eThekwini district police board at Durban Central SAPS, said the Community Policing Forum (CPF) is trying to get the SAPS to work harder so they can reach their goals of a safer province.
The board oversees the 42 stations of the CPFs in eThekwini to ensure that the stations’ crime-fighting initiatives are catered for and well maintained.
David said the CPF needs to be given more power in terms of policing laws and respect for what they do as volunteers.
“The CPF apprehends criminals but the waiting period for a police vehicle to arrive and officially make the arrest is time-consuming and frustrating for volunteers.
“For the first time in 30 years, the CPF has the attention of the National Prosecuting Authority.
“We had a meeting on Friday where our grievances were aired,” David said.
David said criminals are let off the hook with bail or a slap on the wrist after a few court appearances. He said all their hard work is in vain. David also urged residents to become proactive and join the CPF.
Herman Mashaba, ActionSA president, said South Africans no longer trust the SAPS to solve crime, and therefore do not report crimes.
“Cele must not lie to the South African people that they are turning the tide against crime when in reality our communities are under siege,” Mashaba said.
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