Crime down in hard lockdown

Statistics for two quarters of the year, from April to June and from July to September, show that especially the prevalence of serious crimes, has doubled in Polokwane in the latter period.
The country was under hard lockdown for most of April to June, while regulations were eased somewhat as from July and the movement of people increased.
Robberies with aggravating circumstances more than doubled, increasing from 29 cases to 66 in Polokwane during the second quarter and from 954 to 1 608 in the province.
No murders had been reported in the first quarter compared to the five murders in the second quarter, while four attempted murders have been recorded in the city in the second quarter and none in the first.
Provincially, there were 95 murders in the first compared to 186 in the second quarter. Assault with the intention to cause grievous bodily harm also skyrocketed from 12 cases to 20 in the second quarter (1 498 to 2 472 in the province), common assault from 37 to 71 (1 301 to 1 927 provincially) while common robberies escalated from 17 to 31 (provincially 338 to 550).
There were three car-jackings reported in the second quarter in the city (115 in the province) but none in the first quarter (66 in the province) but three out of the four cash-in-transit crimes and in the province during the first quarter was reported in Polokwane.
Robberies at residential areas increased from four to six incidents (185 to 296 in the province) and only one robbery in non- residential premises each during the first and second quarters was reported, with 262 and 440 incidents occurring in the province.
Malicious damage to property increased from 21 to 50 incidents respectively in the city in these two quarters.
Burglaries showed no significant difference during the two quarters, with 82 burglaries in the first quarter (1 449 in the province) and 73 in the second (1 341 in the province) and 100 (2 787) and 98 (2 740) in the second of the quarters.
Theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles increased slightly from six to eight but theft out of motor vehicles increased from 78 incidents to 110 incidents in Polokwane. Stock theft decreased from five to two incidents reported at the Polokwane precinct.
Driving under the influence declined notably on a year-to-year basis, most probably because there were fewer vehicles on the road during the lockdown.
Crime detected by the police declined, but drug-related crimes, with 361 to 387 incidents reported in the city (884 to 1 787 in the province) remain a concern.
Sexual offences declined from nine incidents reported in the first quarter to five in the second and only four rapes were reported in the city during the second quarter compared to eight rapes in the first quarter.
Provincially there was an increase, though, with 454 incidents reported in the first quarter and 798 in the second quarter.
Sexual assault also increased in the province from 54 to 81 cases, but only one case was reported in the second quarter in Polokwane. Attempted sexual crimes though, increased from 29 to 41 incidents and contact sexual offences doubled from seven to 14 cases.
The police have accepted the objective of ensuring that 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.
Statistics are now released on a quarterly basis again, as opposed to stats that were released annually only the last few years.

Story: Nelie Erasmus