Crime has become a hot topic after the country’s crime statistics for 2018/ 19 were made public recently.
As far as the Bekkersdal Police are concerned, common assault, grievous bodily harm, murder and attempted murder remain a problem.
Colonel Tinus Swart, the Bekkersdal Police station commander said common assault and assault GBH (Grievous Bodily Harm) constitute 10 per cent of the total crime reported at the station, and classified these categories as urgently needing attention as they feature predominantly in the area of Bekkersdal.
“These crimes are related to domestic violence,” said Swart. “In 90 per cent of these cases, the perpetrator is known to the victim, but one of the problems we have is that cases are withdrawn because the victims have reconciled with the offenders. However, that does not take away the fact that a crime was committed.”
Also Read:
Westonaria crime stats: Sexual offences decrease, truck hijacking worst in years
He said that such crimes may escalate into a person being killed – something that is a high priority for the police.
He added that the murder statistics are also very high and remain a challenge.
Offences such as such as house break-ins, business break-ins, vehicle theft, and theft out of vehicle are definitely not a problem in Bekkersdal, and have in fact decreased due to police visibility and the fact that operational interventions are conducted on a regular basis.
Swart said rape, which was also one of the regular offences, has been reduced in the past year.
He said as part of their strategy to help reduce the number of rape cases his members approached the area’s taverns and liquor outlets, because that is where a lot of young women hang out and possibly fall prey to rapists.
“The reduction in the number of cases of rape is also the result of efforts made by local forums to regulate closing hours for these outlets, which has also helped with monitoring underage drinking. Although there are still rape cases here and there, we can confidently say that this issue has been reduced tremendously in the past year, and we will make sure it stays this way.”
Swart went on to say that crimes including hijacking, business and house robberies have also been reduced. However, on a negative note, he said Bekkersdal remains one of the police stations in the district with a high number of drug-related arrests – 537 in the past year.
“We had a number of successes where large amounts of drugs were seized, and we also managed to trace the distributors to areas outside Randfontein, but drug abuse is still an issue.”
He said crimes against women and children are also a high priority.
“We need to continuously engage in social crime awareness campaigns which will educate communities.”
Regarding malicious damage to property, Swart said criminals target infrastructure such as railway lines, making this an issue that must be addressed.
“We would like to urge communities to always associate themselves with CPF, forums and groups that seek to get rid of crime in communities because crime can be curbed if people act before something happens,” Swart added.
