EC has highest murder rate
‘Lazy cops’ come under fire for not doing enough Top cop ‘confident’ despite country’s 52 murders a day
were meant to increase as a result of police action or detection.
“The crimes that are considered indicators of the effectiveness of police activities – crimes detected as a result of police action – experienced a reversal from a decrease of 0.3% in the preceding financial year [201516], to an increase of 9.6% [in 2016-17]. However, despite the increase, Mbalula said it was not enough.
Police were making only “lazy effo to make South Africa a “safer place to live in”, he said.
Mbalula said provinces such as the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Western Cape must have increased police action.
Despite the province experiencing a decrease in the number of murder and rape cases in the year under review, Mbalula revealed the possibility of such crimes taking place was much higher in Eastern Cape than in any other province.
The report revealed that in the province, 3 629 murders were reported in the year under review, compared with 3 649 the previous year, a slight decrease of 0.6%.
This is while reported rape cases had also decreased from 7 437 to 6 836 in the same period.
However, the stats also show that robbery and burglary at residential premises, theft out of motor vehicles, stock theft, and aggravated robberies were on the increase.
The Eastern Cape also had the highest increases in arson cases, malicious damage to property, theft out of motors vehicles and contact-related crimes.
For burglary at residential premises and theft of motor vehicles, the province was second highest in the entire country, while truck hijackings were also on the rise.
Mbalula’s report showed there have been decreases in the number of sexual offences in general, shoplifting, carjacking, robbery of cash-intransit vehicles and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm cases.
Only one bank robbery took place in the province during the period, according to Mbalula’s report.
Although there is a significant decrease in some crimes, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) said it was nothing to be proud of, as the Eastern Cape remained in the top three of the provinces in the country for rape and murder.
But ISS senior researcher Dr Johan Burger slammed the stats as “simply not reliable”.
“We can’t put too much reliance on police statistics because the figures, especially those concerning sexual offences, are not the true reflection of what happens in communities.
“If you check Stats SA’s victims of crime survey, you will see their statistics do not corroborate with the police stats,” he said.
DA MPL Bobby Stevenson said the stats show that the Eastern Cape “is caught in the grip of a vicious crime wave”. “The burn-and-loot culture is growing. People simply do not feel safe in their homes.”
Bhisho legislature’s safety and liaison portfolio committee chair and ANC MPL Michael Peter, however, said the report indicated police hard at work. — DEATH‚ mayhem and destruction. Rape‚ sexual assault and pillaging. All of them are on the rise in South Africa.
Yet acting national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Lesetja Mothiba is confident that citizens have faith in the country’s thin blue line of policemen and women.
“I am confident that South Africans are confident in our organisation‚” said Mothiba at a press conference just hours after the release of the crime statistics yesterday.
South Africa’s latest police crime statistics paint a picture of a country at war with itself.
South Africans‚ according to the Institute for Security Studies [ISS]‚ are now 13% more likely to be murdered than they were in 2012.
Murder has risen by 1.8% to 19 016 killings in the 2016-17 financial year when compared to the 2015-16 financial year.
That equates to 52 murders a day – five times the global average. Of those killed‚ 3 478 were women and children.
According to police statistics‚ there are 52 attempted murders and 61 home robberies on average a day‚ with 46 vehicles hijacked daily – along with 16 aggravated [violent] robberies occurring every hour [386 per day].
All of these crimes‚ say criminologists‚ fall under categories that are feared most by South Africans.
For Police Minister Fikile Mbalula‚ who is far from happy with the latest statistics‚ it’s back to basics – the rejuvenation of police war rooms and defunct crime intelligence capabilities.
“It will be expensive‚ but it is steps we have to take. It cannot be business as usual or unusual‚” he said.
“We have to revive specialised units‚ have competent police officers who know how to investigate crimes‚ make arrests and ensure that cases are so solid that we secure convictions.
“Criminals have too many rights in this country‚ while our citizens’ rights are trampled on.”
He said he was beyond defending the indefensible. “There have to be major overhauls‚ especially when it comes to vetting of crime intelligence officials.
“We have to be seen to be changing things on the ground and not just talking about changes. The statistics show that we should be doing more with what we have‚ but that we are not.
“This is unacceptable. We need to look at how we deploy our forces strategically to become more effective.”
ISS crime and justice programme head‚ Gareth Newham‚ said the statistics remained seven months out of date and did not reflect the current crime situation.
He said the most disturbing thing about the figures was that the two categories that were the most reliable indicators of violent crime – murder and armed robbery – continued to increase.
“We are now 13% more likely to be murdered than five years ago. “Aggravated robbery shows how profound the failures of police leadership have become,” he said.
“This is a direct result of political appointments to top police management and inappropriate political interference at all levels of the police.”
Newham said that until the recommendations of the National Development Plan were effectively implemented‚ crime would not be effectively dealt with.
“There needs to be proper appointment processes around the national police commissioner and an audit of the abilities of all police managers‚ to remove poorly performing leaders.
“Until these steps are taken‚ it is unlikely that South Africa will see any improvement in the ability of the police to decrease murder and armed robberies‚” he added. — DDC