MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison, Mrs Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe welcomed a notable decrease of crime in the province as reflected through the presentation of the third quarter Crime Statistics 2020/2021 on Friday, 26 February 2020. The presentation was held at Sakhisizwe Municipality Hall at Cala and attended by the local Mayor, Municipal Manager and Chief Whip.
Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner-Lt Gen Liziwe Ntshinga when delivering her welcoming remarks said police in the province have done their best to fight the scourge of crime. “As we present these statistics, let us appreciate the work done and improve where we can.” She further acknowledged the important role of community based policing. “We could never had achieved our milestone without CPF, community patrollers, the traditional authorities and the public,” she said.
These statistics reflect the period between October and December 2020. It was noted that contact crimes which include murder, sexual offenses, assault and robbery depicted a decrease.
Murder is the only category that displayed an upward increase of 0,5% with six more cases difference compared with same period last year.
A 2.6% decrease was notable on sexual offenses.
A decrease by 80 cases on attempted murder or 12.3% compared to the same time last year was also noted.
Common assaults also dropped by 3% while assault with grievous body harm decreased by 1.1%.
Common Robbery declined by 5.2%. Robbery with aggravating circumstances dropped by 13.3%. An overall decrease of 867 counts was noted for the total contact crime category compared with same period last year.
Sexual offenses-Sexual assault is the only crime that recorded a rise of 16.2% in this category which includes rape, attempted sexual assault and contact sexual assault.
Rape decreased by 2.7%, attempted rape dropped by 30.6% and contact sexual offenses declined by 23.9% while total sexual offenses displayed an overall 2.6% decrease with 66 case difference compared to this period last year.
All categories under aggravated robbery which includes carjacking, robbery at residential premises, robbery at non-residential premises, robbery of cash in transit and bank robbery depicted decreases except for robbery of cash in transit which increased by 14.3% and truck hijackings which increased by 22.9%.
It was appreciated that no bank robbery happened in this period.
Property related crime that includes burglary at residential and non-residential premises, theft, theft out of motor vehicle and stock theft all depicted decreases. Stock theft reflected a welcome 7.2% decrease while burglary at non-residential
premises dropped by 0.4%,Theft out of motor vehicle declined by 16.7% and burglary at residential premises dropped by 15.8%.
Theft decreased by at least 716 incidents while shoplifting recorded a 26.5% decline.
Crimes detected as a result of police action that includes illegal firearms, drug related crime, driving under influence and sexual offenses which are predominantly offences detected as a result of police action displayed decreases of between 20%-65%.
Mthatha remains a cause for concern for the province as these statistics reveal that murders occur mostly in this town, predominantly on weekends. Guns and dangerous weapons are mostly used.
MEC Tikana-Gxothiwe said during her address, “We must identify places with high crime volumes so that we can engage stakeholders in those affected areas.”
On gender based violence she instructed the police to identify stakeholders for strategic support and partnership. “We have to strengthen our relationships with active gender activists like Mr Petros Majola”, she advised.
Welcoming the improvement in the fight against stock theft, she recalled stock theft as one of the major headaches and cancer that is eating away the foundation of our economy. “Livestock is a commodity commonly used to break shackles of poverty. Recently we handed over a mobile station at Katkop in the fight against stock theft. The 7.3% in stock theft decrease is welcome and l wish to thank all involved in this success. Alone, police can’t win the fight against crime,” she noted.
She furthermore emphasized the need to strengthen ties with other law enforcement agencies. “The quarterly release of crime statistics allows us to notice trends, build on successes and give chance to improve,” she concluded.
