Exco thumbs-up for R200K fest
One of two bidders recommended
The council’s executive committee has recommended that event company Lutifusion host Port Alfred’s annual holiday season music festival under the new name, Ecawa Music Festival.
The recommendation, which comes at a R200,000 price tag for Ndlambe, has yet to be ratified by this week’s full council sitting.
There were two bidders for this year’s festival, with NJH Group losing out.
The event, which was first hosted in 2018, used to be called the Ndlambe Music Festival.
The name has changed due to a legal concern over the trademark.
Talk of the Town reported on September 22 that the name of this year’s festival depended on which company won the bid to host it.
Lutifusion is the only company to have hosted the event in the past but this year NJH Group stepped into the ring.
Not only was NJH a challenger to host the event, the company also dropped the bombshell that it owned the event name Ndlambe Music Festival.
Both companies are associated with a wide range of business
Burglary, theft and assault top the list of crimes reported in the Ndlambe region during the April to June period this year.
Crime statistics for the Eastern Cape were released recently and Talk of the Town looked at the figures reported by police stations serving Ndlambe (Alexandria, Kenton, Port Alfred, Bathurst) as well as Makana (Joza and Makhanda).
Makana, with its much bigger population, recorded higher numbers of serious crimes including murder, rape and sexual assault – particularly when the figures for its two police stations are combined.
If you live in Bathurst, having your home burgled is the biggest crime risk, with 24 cases opened at the Bathurst Police Station in the last quarter (April to June 2022).
Theft in general brings that crime category quite high.
Assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) and common assault are the next highest category (18 and 16 cases in the first quarter respectively).
Port Alfred, with a population of 25,859 (Stats SA, 2011) – at least four times bigger than Bathurst – reported 58 burglaries at residential premises. That’s 10 cases fewer than reported in 2021.
There were 18 cases of theft from motor vehicles in Port Alfred and 21 other cases of theft.
Under the category Crime detected as a result of police action, there has been a steady increase in drug-related crime since five years ago (April to June 2018) when there were nine cases.
The same period in 2022 saw 25 drug-related crimes in Port Alfred (Bathurst went from nine to zero over five years).
There were also 10 cases of malicious damage to property in Port Alfred (during the same period in 2018 there were 20).
Port Alfred has two police stations:
Port Alfred (in Pascoe Crescent) and Nemato (in Shiceka Street). Kenton recorded 27 cases of assault GBH and 14 of common assault in this period.
Eleven cases of malicious damage to property, 31 burglaries at residential premises and 35 other theft cases make this the highest crime risk in Kenton.
Eleven drug-related crimes detected as a result of police action, down from 15 in the same period last year, confirm this remains a problem across the area.
There was a similar pattern in Alexandria – 43 assault cases (GBH and common assault combined); 10 malicious damage to property; 19 residential burglaries (46 in same period in 2019); and 10 drug-related crimes detected as a result of police action.
Makana also has two police stations – Makhanda (in Beaufort Street) and Joza (in Extension 6).
The statistics reflect where a crime was reported and not necessarily where it happened.
Thirteen murders and four attempted murders were reported at the two police stations.
Again, both categories of assault are the most common crime (30 GBH, 84 common at Makhanda and 30/66 at Joza).
Gender-based violence (GBV) remains rife with 13 sexual
offences reported at each police station, bringing Makana’s total to 26.
Burglary and theft in Makana are high, with 30 burglaries at nonresidential premises (Makhanda) and 79 at homes (10 and 27 at Joza).
There were 43 cases of theft from motor vehicles and another 97 incidents reported at the Makhanda police station, where 45 cases of commercial crime and 21 of shoplifting were also opened.
Under drug-related crimes, 32 were detected as a result of police action at both stations.
Nemato Police Station
Decreases in all contact crimes with 68% fewer rape cases reported (five vs 16 cases in April-June 2021), as well as all property-related crimes.
Drug-related crimes also decreased by 56%.
Illegal possession of firearms and ammunition went from none in the same period last year to one this year.
Robbery at residential premises went up by one case (one reported). Port Alfred (town) Police Station Murder and sexual offences decreased and one case of attempted murder was reported.
Common robbery increased by 50% (two cases reported in 2021 and three in 2022).
The number of sexual offences reported decreased. In the subcategories of aggravated robbery, there was one count higher reported for robbery at non-residential premises.
Contact-related crimes such as malicious damage to property increased by 11% (nine cases reported in 2021 and 10 in 2022).
Burglaries at non-residential premises decreased by 63.6% (eight cases reported).
But theft from and of motor vehicles and motorcycles increased by two cases.
Drug-related crimes also increased by 31% (six more cases reported than the previous year).
Alexandria Police Station
The station recorded one count higher for murder, but other contact crimes such as assault and robbery decreased.
Sexual offenses decreased significantly, with rape cases decreasing by 75% (one case reported this year compared to four last year) and sexual assault by 100% (no sexual assault cases reported from April-June 2022 and one reported in 2021).
Some subcategories of aggravated robbery decreased: robbery at residential premises decreased by 33% (two cases reported) and robbery at non-residential premises decreased by 50% (one case reported).
However, robbery at non-residential premises increased by 66% (five cases reported in Q1 2022), but all the other property-related crimes decreased.
There was a shocking 300% increase in commercial crimes (from two cases reported in 2021 to eight in Q1 2022).
In the category of crimes detected as a result of police action, drug-related crimes increased by 100% (ten cases reported from April to June 2022).
Bathurst Police Station
Contact crimes and sexual offences increased by 400% (five cases reported in 2022 compared to one in previous year), robbery with aggravating circumstances increased by 300% (four cases reported) and common robbery went up by two counts.
Rape cases increased by 400% (five reported in first quarter of year while one case reported in previous year).
Robbery at residential premises increased by one count, and malicious damage to property increased by 150% (10 cases reported).
However, commercial crimes decreased by 75% (one case reported in comparison to four in 2021) and drug-related crimes decreased by 100% (no cases reported this period).
Kenton Police Station
Two more cases of murder were reported this period, and assault GBH went up by 50% (27 cases reported in first quarter of 2022 while 18 reported in same period in 2021).
Common robbery decreased by 100% (no cases reported this year while two reported in previous quarter) and robbery at residential and nonresidential premises also decreased by 100% (no cases reported).
Regarding contact-related crimes, burglary at non-residential premises increased by 200% (three cases in first quarter of year and one in 2021), theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles went up by three counts and shoplifting went up by 300% (four cases reported).
Drug-related crimes decreased by 26.7% (11 cases reported as opposed to 15 reported the previous year), and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs also decreased by 100% (no cases reported).
Makhanda and Joza Police Stations The Makhanda Police Station recorded a 100% increase in murder cases (four cases reported from April to June 2021 while two reported in first quarter of 2021) and attempted murder went up by four counts.
This was lower than the cases reported at the Joza Police Station, which showed an increase of 125% for murder (nine cases reported).
Cases of attempted murder, common assault and common robbery reported at Joza showed a decrease, but an increase at Makhanda.
Both police stations recorded 33.3% increases in drug-related crimes (eight cases reported for Joza and 24 for Makhanda).