The 2016/17 national crime statistics show a 1.8 per cent decrease in the crime statistic which were revealed by the Police Minister, Fikile Mbalula, on Tuesday in Cape Town.
The minister explains he is not moved by this because there was still a lot to be done to fight crime in the communities, especially in the dealing with violent crimes which have increased significantly across the country.
For Kwatsaduza, this translates as a decrease in many areas of crime but murder, rape and assualt remain as concern.
When we zoom into the crimes statistics in the three police stations in Kwatsaduza which include KwaThema, Tsakane and Duduza police stations, Tsakane is among the top 30 stations for cases in rape (21) and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (23).
Tsakane Polica Station
In Tsakane there were 69 cases of murder reported between April 2016 to March 2017 compared to 49 cases reported in the April 2015 to March 2016.
Murder – This indicates that there was an increase of 20 murder cases reported at the station during this period.
The statistics also reveal that there were 164 cases of rape reported with a 1.2 % decrease from the previous year.
Assault – Another crime concern in the area is the assault with intend to cause grievous bodily harm with 671 cases reported.
Even though this is a concern the statistics show a 13.3 percent decrease.
There were 194 case of sexual offences reported in the area with a 0.5 percent decrease.
Duduza Police Station
There were 26 murder cases reported at the station which show a 3.7 per cent decrease from the previous year.
Seventy-six sexual offences were reported at the station which shows a significant increase of 16.9 per cent from the previous year.
Car hijacking cases have been reduced significantly with a 29.3 per cent decrease in the number of cases reported.
There has been a 100 per cent decrease in the cases of truck hijacking which has been in control since the April 2009 to March 2010 period when seven cases were reported.
Rape – There were 62 cases of rape which were reported in the area during the period.
This shows an increase of 14.8 per cent from the previous year.
Attempted murder – There is an 18.5 per cent decrease in the cases of attempted murder with only 22 reported during this period.
KwaThema Police Station
Murder – There was 10.7 per cent decrease in the number of cases at the station compared to the 28 cases which were reported in the previous year.
Sexual offences stats show that there is a 35.5 per cent decrease in these reported cases from 107 to 69 cases.
The highest number of sexual offences was reported in during the April 2009 to March 2010 period with 144 cases brought to book.
The statistics show there was 4.1 per cent decrease in the contact crimes reported at the station.
Rape – There is a significant decrease in the number of rape cases with a 37.2 per cent decrease.
There were only 59 cases reported, down from 94 which in the previous year.
The highest number of cases were reported during the April 2009 to March 2010 with 111 cases reported.
The statistics show that there is a decrease in the number of sexual offences cases reported at the police station with a 35.5 per cent drop.
Car hijackings – There were only 52 cases of car hijacking reported at the station with a 11.9 per cent decrease from the previous year which saw 59 cases reported.
The minister warns criminals they will be dealt with with a proportional response.
He also slammed lazy police officers saying he has relaunched the specialised police unit to help fight violent crimes.
