Gauteng Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Elias Mawela presented the annual crime statistics before the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on 20 August.
A press statement released by the South African Police Service said that it has accepted a new and challenging objective of ensuring that its crime statistics are in line with international best practice. “This will be achieved through a Memorandum of Understanding with Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), aimed at further enhancing the quality and integrity of the South African crime statistics.”
The outlined statistics highlight crimes from April to June this year. Below are the statistics for police stations within the Midrand area which include Midrand Police Station, Ivory Park Police Station and Rabie Ridge Police Station.
Midrand Police Station
There were three murders reported at the Midrand Police Station in the first quarter of the year, this is a decrease of 57.1 per cent from the same time the previous year. In total, there were 250 contact crimes reported at the police station during the first quarter. Contact crimes included murder, sexual offences, common assault and robbery, attempted murder, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
There were 11 sexual offences reported at the station. This includes rape (seven cases), sexual assault (two cases) and contact sexual offences (two cases). This is a decrease of 45 per cent from the same time the previous year.
There were 17 cases of carjacking, 13 cases of robbery at residential premises and nine cases of robbery at non-residential premises reported during the three-month period. (These are incidents where some degree of violence is involved).
There was a consistent decrease in the number of property-related crimes. There were 55 cases of burglary at non-residential premises, 79 cases of burglary at residential premises, 28 cases of theft of a motor vehicle and 42 cases of theft out of a motor vehicle. In total, property-related crimes decreased by 62.7 per cent.
There was a significant decrease in crime detected as a result of police action. During the same period in the previous financial year, there were 220 crimes detected as a result of police action. This decreased by 71.8 per cent in this quarter, with 62 crimes detected as a result of police action.
Rabie Ridge Police Station
There were six murders reported at the Rabie Ridge Police Station in the first quarter of the year, an increase of one case from the same time the previous year. There was a 48.3 per cent decrease in sexual offences. In total, there were 229 contact crimes reported in the first quarter, compared to 353 in the same period in the previous year.
There were 15 sexual offences reported during the first quarter, a decrease of 48.3 per cent for the same period the previous year. These cases included 11 cases of rape, three cases of sexual assault and one case of contact sexual offence.
There were nine cases of carjacking, nine cases of robbery at residential premises and 11 cases of robbery at non-residential premises reported during the three-month period.
There was an increase in the number of property-related crimes. There were 182 cases reported in the first quarter of this year. There were 30 cases of burglary at non-residential premises, 42cases of burglary at residential premises, 38 cases of theft of a motor vehicle and 71 cases of theft out of a motor vehicle. In total, property-related crimes increase by 50.4 per cent.
There was a significant decrease in crime detected as a result of police action. During the same period in the previous financial year, there were 262 crimes detected as a result of police action. This decreased by 82.1 per cent in this quarter, with 47 crimes detected as a result of police action.
Ivory Park Police Station
There were 19 cases of murder reported at the Ivory Park Police Station. This is a decrease compared to the 38 cases reported in the same period of the previous year.
In Ivory Park, there were 23 cases of rape reported, compared to 49 reported at the same time in the previous year. In total, there were 31 sexual offences reported in the first quarter, a decrease of 43.6 per cent.
The Ivory Park Police Station reported the third-highest number of contact crime cases nationally. There were 568 cases reported in the first quarter, a decrease from 655 cases in the same period in the previous year.
In the trio crimes category, which included carjackings, house robberies and business robberies, there were 76 cases reported. This is an increase of 4.1 per cent compared to the same quarter in the previous year.