Mpumalanga government to intensify fight against crime

With the crime rate continuing to spike, especially contact crimes, the Mpumalanga government will host a two-day Provincial Crime Prevention Summit to find lasting solutions to curb this scourge.

Kick-starting at Ingwenyama Lodge outside White River today, the summit is aimed at adequately responding to crime and developing a programme of action to deal with crime in general in the province.

This summit comes at a time when the region is under the spotlight following the recent release of national crime statistics by police minister Bheki Cele.

Cele announced that the province’s Delmas Police Station is ranked the second highest station with the most kidnapping cases in the country.

A closer look into the national crime statistics for the fourth quarter revealed that 53 cases of kidnapping were reported to the Delmas SAPS, making it number one in the province.

Delmas’s kidnapping rates had remained the same from the fourth quarter of 2022. Other alarming kidnapping rates were recorded from various police stations in the province. Pienaar recorded 19 cases, Witbank 17 and KwaMhlanga 10.

Overall, the province recorded 254 cases.

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Some of the crimes in Mpumalanga include 828 cases of sexual offences, with 712 of those being cases of rape, 339 cases of murder, 6 351 cases of property-related crimes, 1 322 cases of drugs-related crimes and 1 158 trio crimes (car jackings, house robberies and business robberies).

KaBokweni and Pienaar were in the national top 30, at number 24 and 25 respectively, for rape cases. Both the stations had 40 each.

Speaking to Mpumalanga News about this summit, the MEC responsible for community safety, security and liaison, Vusi Shongwe, said the government is trying to pull out all stops in the fight against crime. He said it is deeply concerned about the high crime rate in the province.

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“We all need to come together and fight this demon that is slowly destroying our country. Remember that the province is very rich in tourism, and with the high rate of crime we could experience a decline in the numbers of tourists visiting. It is critically important that we win the fight against crime,” said Shongwe.

“We need to create a safer environment for all, especially our children and women who continue to suffer the brunt of crime. We also need to come up with strategies that will help us create awareness against the kidnaping and killing of people living with albinism for muti purposes.”

Shongwe said the summit will also be used to further enhance collaboration among all role players in crime prevention.

“The summit will also place renewed emphasis on the relevance of a united, multipronged approach to respond to crime, thus promoting a holistic view on how these and other contributing factors are given attention to ensure an improved service delivery,” he said.

The Mpumalanga premier, Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, will lead the summit and deliver a keynote address.