Increase in violent offences in Cape 'no surprise'

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Crime in South Africa is at a 10-year low, but in the Western Cape there has been a marked increase in violent offences, including murder. This comes as no surprise though, according to ANC Western Cape secretary Faiez Jacobs, who accused the city and province of neglecting poorer suburbs, and in turn depriving them of opportunities to excel financially. Yesterday, Police Minister Fikile Mbalula released crime statistics for April 1, 2016 to March 31 this year, which showed a 1.8% decrease in serious crimes nationally. In the Western Cape there’s been a 3.5% decrease in crime, but violent crimes like murder, sexual assault, and robbery with aggravating circumstances remain on the increase. Crimes that spiked in the province include:

– Murder, up by 2.7%, compared to the national increase of 1.8%;

– Sexual assault increased by 6%, compared to a national increase of 0.9%;

– Carjacking increased by 8%;

– Truck hijacking increased by 26.1%; and

– Cash-in-transit robberies increased by 45.8%.

Murders reported in the Western Cape account for 21.1% of all murders in the country with 10 policing areas in the 20 precincts with the worst murder statistics.

These include Nyanga, Delft, Khayelitsha and Kraaifontein.

Jacobs said there seemed to be little effort by the province in regulating informal traders, especially those trading in alcohol, as many crimes were committed in and for the trade.

‘‘The City and province failed to provide enough resources to communities. They should stop putting the blame on national government,” Jacobs said.

Mayor Patricia de Lille’s spokesperson Zara Nicholson hit back, saying the fact remained that the police, under the national government, were responsible for fighting crime and ensuring that the criminal justice system worked efficiently.

“Cape Town has the lowest unemployment rate in the country with more investors choosing to open their operations here each day, providing much-needed jobs because of the City’s track record of service delivery, clean governance and a zero-tolerance for corruption in the administration.

‘‘The ANC should be aware of the many positive community development projects which the City is delivering on as they are members of the various portfolio committees in council who have oversight over these projects,” said Nicholson.

Community Safety MEC Dan Plato said they had invested a large sum in resources and were doing their best.

“The fact is that violent crime is highest in areas where the police are most under-resourced,’’ he said.

‘‘National government has operational control over SAPS and we will continue to advocate for sufficient policing resources, including specialised units to target gangs, guns and drugs.

“We also reiterate our call for the SANDF to be used as force-multipliers in gang-affected communities - this is a short-term measure to stabilise the gang violence situation.”

Mbalula said a request to deploy the army to boost the police in the fight against gangsterism in the Western Cape was still with the president.

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