Durban - Crime appears to be dipping in KwaZulu-Natal’s capital city, Pietermaritzburg.
According to the SAPS’ 2016 / 2017 crime statistics, murder, sexual offences, home robberies and burglaries and business robberies, were all down from the 2015/2016.
This despite a 2016 finding from the Numbeo Crime Index - which relies on user input as well as data manually collected from authoritative resources - that the city was the most dangerous in South Africa.
The annual crime statistics painted a different picture.
Assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, common assault, common robbery and car theft were all also down.
Hijackings, however, were up.
This in keeping with the national trend.
The generally positive figures could be linked to the fact that crimes detected as a result of police action were up dramatically - by 33.8%, from 1 916 in 2015 / 2016 to 2 564 in 2016 / 2017 - in the city.
These types of crimes include the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, drug-related crimes, driving under the influence of alcohol and / or drugs and sexual offences detected by police, such as prostitution and the keeping of brothels.
The Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Bheki Langa, yesterday said that tip offs from members of the public and their assistance, had been invaluable to police during the period under review.