Durban - KWAZULU-NATAL police stations notoriously topped crime statistics released by Minister of Police, Bheki Cele on Friday for the highest numbers of murders and house robberies.
UMlazi, Inanda and Plessislaer police stations were in the top three nationally for the highest number of murder cases reported between January and March this year, while Plessislaer, Inanda and KwaDukuza were in the top three for house robberies.
KwaZulu-Natal violence researcher and analyst, Mary de Haas said the crime stats came as no surprise to her as these areas especially UMlazi and Inanda had been crime hot spots for a long time.
De Haas said crime in these areas remained high because of poor management, bad crime intelligence and poor detective work. “It’s a historic problem and most of these areas are infested by gang violence. She said community leaders had a huge part to play in curbing crime.
“People of influence in the community should be joining Community Policing Forums (CPFs). People who are empowered to ask the right questions and who are not influenced by politics and power,” she said.
Plessislaer police station in Pietermaritzburg recorded the highest number of house robberies and the third highest murder cases in the country.
Ward councillor in the area Thembinkosi Zondi said crime was concerning as he received alerts relating to murders and violent crimes almost every weekend.
Zondi said the community was working towards creating functioning CPFs, a structure he believed would greatly reduce violent crimes in his ward.
KwaDukuza police station ranked third in the country for house robberies and DA KwaDukuza caucus leader, Tammy Colley, said the party was lobbying for a strengthened municipal force to protect residents.
She said the increase in crime could be attributed to the “lack of public lighting as well as the lack of 24-hour visible policing”.
Speaking at the two-day Crime Summit, Premier Sihle Zikalala said those involved in community policing should be empowered to pay attention to specific crimes that affect neighbourhoods.
“It could be a challenge around gangs, drugs, house break-ins, gun violence. Again, the community needs to be mobilised to stand together and convey an unambiguous message that it stands united against violence and crime,” he said.
KZN police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said improvements had been made to several police stations.
“We have done a lot at Inanda police station alone to improve the station, we have provided extra personnel, more vans, renovated the station and we are in the process of installing cameras in the area to help the police in fighting crime,” he said.
DA KZN spokesperson on community Safety and Liaison, Sharon Hoosen said: “These statistics show that no one – in particular our women and children – are safe in KZN. Sadly, the same is true of our men and women in blue, with the province recording the highest number of police officers murdered here in the first quarter.”
KZN Department of Community Safety and Liaison spokesperson Thuba Vilane said the crime summit was one of the crucial programmes the department had to come up with to tackle crime.
“We are working with municipalities in the province to ensure areas are well lit especially at night and installing CCTV to monitor crime especially in eThekwini,” he said.
THE MERCURY