Opposition parties say figures not right

STATISTICS that show a reduction in serious crime in KwaZulu-Natal have been rejected by the province’s opposition parties – the IFP, DA and National Freedom Party (NFP) – as not reflecting reality.

IFP MPL Blessed Gwala said that the practice of only releasing statistics once a year was questionable.

“The government does not want the public to know the crime statistics except when it wants to tell us that crime is down,” said Gwala.

“Even when we request statistics as members of the [community safety and liaison] portfolio committee we are not given them. It is hard to believe that these statistics have not been manipulated.”

DA police spokeswoman Dianne Kohler Barnard said “these incremental changes are cold comfort to law-abiding citizens who live in fear of criminals”.

“These statistics are also up to 18 months old,” she said.

“The DA wants to see realtime crime statistics made available to the public at station level.

“This will not only give the public information on the nature and extent of crime in their area, but also allow the SAPS to tailor local responses to present-day realities.”

NFP president Zanele Magwaza-Msibi said it was possible that rape numbers were down because victims were not reporting the crime for fear of further victimisation and stigmatisation.