Survey shows crime still rife in NC

WHILE overall household crime in the Northern Cape has seen a decrease since 2013/14, there has been an increase in the last year.

The number of crime incidents in the Province in 2016/17 was 46 495 – the second highest number of incidents per household in the country, beaten only by the Free State.

When looking at the percentage of victimised households, the Northern Cape is the third highest, with the Western Cape and Eastern Cape topping the list. These three provinces, together with KwaZuluNatal, were higher than the national percentage. In the Northern Cape, there were 32 988 victimised households in 2016/17.

This is according to Stats SA’s Victims of Crime Survey 2016/17, released yesterday by Statistician-General Pali Lekgotla.

The percentage of households in the Northern Cape that experienced crime, which was at a high of 10.7 percent in 2013/14, jumped from 7.5 percent in 2015/16 to 8.2 percent in 2016/17.

Overall individual crime, experienced by selected members of households aged 16 years and older, however, showed a steady decline from 5.9 percent in 2014/15 to 4.3 percent in 2015/16 to a low of 2.9 percent in 2016/17.

According to the statistics released, more than half of households in South Africa experienced housebreaking/burglary, followed by theft of livestock, poultry and other animals, as well as home robbery. Motor vehicle related crime (theft of motor vehicles, theft out of motor vehicles and motor vehicle vandalisation) accounted for 14.7 percent of all household crime.

In the Northern Cape, a total of 18 234 households experienced at least one housebreaking/burglary. The total number of incidents in South Africa was 647 340. Gauteng had the highest number of incidents at 190 568, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 126 647.

In terms of theft of poultry/ livestock, 6 301 incidents were experienced in this Province. Nationally one in 500 households in metro areas said they experienced theft of livestock, poultry and other animals, while in non-metros one in 100 experienced this crime in the last 12 months.

The Northern Cape reported the third highest incidence of theft of animals in non-metro areas, with 1.57 percent of households experiencing this type of crime. The Eastern Cape non-metro area dominated with 3.13 percent of households experiencing theft of animals, followed by KwaZuluNatal with 1.78 percent.

A total of 3 147 households in the Northern Cape experienced theft out of motor vehicles. This figure was again the third highest in the country, with the Western Cape topping the list with 2.07 percent of households reporting this type of crime, followed by the Eastern Cape with 0.97 percent of households affected.

Nationally, male-headed households were more at risk for theft out of a motor vehicle, with twice as many male-headed households affected than female-headed households.

In terms of individuals’ experience of crime, a total of 6 270 people in the Northern Cape had personal property stolen, including clothes, jewellery, watches or cellphones.

Statistics

According to the statistics obtained, the prevalence of theft of personal property was highest among those residing in the Western Cape (2.71 percent) and lowest among people living in the Northern Cape (0.75 percent). It was pointed out in the results, however, that the estimates of theft of personal property in the Northern Cape was questionable.

In terms of the number of individuals who experienced theft of personal property, Gauteng recorded the highest figures at 157 733.

The figures for robbery committed against individuals outside their homes shows that the number of incidents in the Northern Cape was 5 256 (0.63 percent of the population), while the number of individuals who experienced assault in the Province was 9 216 (1.1 percent). This was the second highest percentage in the country, topped only by the Eastern Cape with 1.38 percent of the adult population experiencing assault. The lowest was in Gauteng with 0.4 percent.

Nationally, a total of about 260 000 individuals aged 16 years and above were victims of assault in 2016/17, which is equivalent to about 0.7 percent of all adult people in the country.

The Northern Cape had the highest percentage of households who know about medical services for victims of crime (97.4 percent), although less knew about counselling services (65.6 percent) and even less about shelters/places of safety (12.5 percent).

Approximately seven in every 10 households nationally responded that they could take victims to a hospital or trauma unit, or a local clinic.

Most people in the Northern Cape (42.8 percent) believed that violent crime in their areas had increased in the past three years. Only 26.5 percent of locals believed it had decreased, while 30.7 percent believed it had stayed the same.

Just under two-thirds (63.2 percent) of local residents said that it took less than 30 minutes to reach the nearest police station. A total of 29 percent said it took between 30 minutes and one hour, while 7.9 percent said it took between one and two hours. A total of 2.3 percent said it took more than two hours.

More than five percent (5.8 percent) of Northern Cape residents said the police never arrived when called to respond to an emergency call, while a whopping 38 percent said it took them longer than two hours.

Only one-quarter (25.5 percent) said the police responded in less than 30 minutes, while one-fifth (21.5 percent) said it took them between 30 minutes and one hour to respond and 9.2 percent said it took the police between one to two hours to respond.

One in 10 adults in the Province reported “never” seeing a policeman in uniform and on duty in their area of residence. More than half (53 percent), however, reported seeing a policeman at least once a day.

Meanwhile, people in the Northern Cape expressed their confidence in the courts, with 58.6 percent believing the courts passed sentences appropriate to the crime. Only 31 percent believed, however, that there was a high rate of conviction, while less than 10 percent believed the courts were not corrupt.

Only one-third of locals believed that the sentencing of violent crime was long enough to discourage people from committing these crimes.