The stats are ‘misleading’

Crime in Hillbrow too high – family

The reported decrease in murder cases recorded in Hillbrow has brought little comfort to the family of five people who were gunned down in February in a flat they shared.

Fikile Malembe, 38, her daughter Luyanda Malembe, 21, and nine-year-old son Thierno Ndiaye, Luyanda’s one-yearold son Ntethelelo, and Fikile’s cousin Nqobile Buthelezi – a child minder – were killed at Madison Square flats.

Buthelezi’s two-year-old daughter was the only survivor of the massacre. She was reportedly found wrapped under her dead mother’s arm shortly after the shooting.

Hillbrow police station recorded the highest number of murders in Gauteng, with 103 cases reported between April 2015 and March 2016. The number has decreased by 14% to 89 cases as recorded in the 2016-2017 crime statistics, released yesterday.

For Skhumbuzo Kunene, Malembe’s cousin, nothing will bring back his relatives.

“My uncle’s generation has been totally wiped out. There is nothing to show that he once existed. They [the deceased] had just returned from KZN to bury my uncle [Fikile’s father],” Kunene said. He said he did not believe the statistics were a true reflection of the crime in Hillbrow.

“Just two weeks ago, a man had his throat slit like a goat at the same flats. Whoever says murder has gone down is not telling the truth because people continue to die. We were raised to be (Christian) believers and do not believe in revenge,” Kunene said.

He said he had faith in the investigating officer to bring the perpetrators to justice for his family to finally find closure.