Police boss loses sleep over rising rape cases

Thohoyandou continues to be the rape capital of Limpopo and it is keeping both police boss Lieutenant-General Thembi Hadebe and transport and community safety MEC Florence Radzilane up at night.

Radzilane, who is also the deputy chair for the ANC in Limpopo, said she was deeply worried about the rising levels of crime in the province.

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Topping the list of her worries is the growing trend of rape cases. The MEC said she was gravely worried that Thohoyandou continues to make the list of police stations with the highest crime rate in the province and in the country.

Radzilane was speaking during the unveiling of crime statistics for the July to September quarter in Polokwane on Tuesday.

Prevention of violence

During the presentation, Hadebe said the province’s primary focus encompassed the prevention of gender-based violence and femicide, while effectively combating aggravated crimes such as carjacking, residential burglaries, business robberies, and cash-in-transit heists.

She said the province aspires to bolster border security measures alongside implementing stringent regulations pertaining to illicit economic practices and firearms control measures.

“Through our intensive operations, we managed to arrest 72 suspects for illicit mining and confiscated equipment worth R2.5 million. During the evaluated period, there was a notable 11.2% decline in murder cases, amounting to 30 fewer cases than in the previous quarter.

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“Among the reported 237 cases, vigilantism accounted for 37, while arguments, misunderstandings, or provocations gave rise to 38 murders.

“As part of our efforts to apprehend those responsible, we successfully arrested 149 suspects for committing murder,” said Hadebe.

There were many thousands of community-reported serious crimes dockets opened in Limpopo between 1 July and 30 September. Every day, 281 victims reported murder, assault, sexual offences, theft and robbery incidents in Limpopo.

Year-on-year increases:

• 310 attempted murders increased by 19.2%;

• 1 153 sexual offences increased by 1.7%;

• Common assault increased to 2 627 cases while commercial crime increased to 1 733.