AfriForum has accused Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa and government of lying to the public. According to a media statement issued by this civil rights organisation, the crime statistics 2012/2013 released by the police minister have been calculated incorrectly.
“Government is lying to its people by saying that murders have declined,” argued Ian Cameron, head of community safety at AfriForum.
The accusation comes after Mthethwa announced that South Africa is winning the fight against crime.
“South Africa still has one of the highest murder rates in the world, which has increased during the past year,” Cameron added.
AfriForum said this was “an election stunt”.
“Mthethwa specifically referred to the 2012/2013 statistics, which are actually an insult to the South African Police Service as the numbers have been calculated incorrectly,” said the organisation.
Cameron also stated that 650 more murders have been committed in the country compared to 2011/2012 police statistics. Attempted murder has also increased by 8.7 percent according to the organisation. AfriForum added that the ANC has blamed gang violence and the high murder rate in the Western Cape on the DA governance of the province, yet the police are actually managed by the national ANC government.
“The minister of police is not in the business of lying,” contended Nathi Mthethwa’s spokesperson David Barritt.
According to Barritt the claims made by AfriForum are “completely untrue”. “The United Nations praised the minister about the work that has been done,” he added.
“Figures do not lie,” Barritt concluded, arguing that statistics released by the United Nations show that the crime rate has declined.
The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) said that the highest murder rate in the country is from Eastern Cape with 50.8 per 100 000 people for 2012/2013. Cameron added that statistics released by the Consumer Goods Risk Initiative (CGRI) revealed that general merchants and jewellers in South Africa have lost about R38,713,795 in armed
robberies during 2012/2013. “The ANC uses manipulation to win votes. The truth is that violent crime is increasing and statistics such as those from the ISS and CGRI show this,” concluded Cameron.
Details: AfriForum 086 10 200 30.
