EASTERN CAPE - WORRISOME CRIME STATS SHOW A SUBSTANTIAL SPIKE IN RAPE AND SEXUAL OFFENCES IN THE PROVINCE

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has the responsibility to provide policing services and ensure the safety in accordance with Outcome 3 of the Government Programme of Action.

In fulfilling the abovementioned mandate, it is necessary that SAPS constantly provide different stakeholders and communities with a broad scenario of the crime situation in the Province. In essence, Crime Statistics must be utilised as early warning to strengthen crime prevention operations and various other strategies meant to ensure that people are and feel safe.

Today, the Eastern Cape 2018/2019 Crime Statistics were released in the presence of the MEC: Transport, Safety and Liaison at the Eastern Cape Provincial Head Office.

We remain concerned with Rape and Sexual Offences which have depicted increases of 7.1% and 10.6% respectively while Attempted Sexual Offences depicted a 22.0%.  This is worrisome especially that we still receive reports of young girls and older women raped. Although this is not an easy category to police but we remain steadfast in making inroads to see this trend changing. What brings solace in this category is the tremendous work by our FCS Detectives who continue to secure long sentences for perpetrators of such crimes. We will in the next week issue a media statement of the successes by these detectives where many life sentences and years’ sentences were imposed to accused from 1 April 2018 to 30 March 2019.

A decrease of 0.7% was depicted for property related crimes. Although a decrease was achieved in the category, it remains worrisome for us that home robberies depicted a 0.2% increase as this falls on the category of the most feared crimes in our society. Robberies at businesses have depicted a decrease of 0.9% and that is encouraging. 

Another concern for us is the 4.6% increase on contact crimes with all categories depicting increases.

Giving the address following the presentation of 2018/2019 Crime Statistics, Eastern Cape MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison, Ms Weziwe Tikana said, “when analysing and interpreting the South African Police Service (SAPS) crime statistics for the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019, it is fair to say that they do not make for a good reading. They are reflective of some of the challenges that continue to grip the country and the province around the issue of Gender Based Violence, with mostly women on the receiving end of that violence”.

“As this department we remain steadfastly committed in making people feel safer and will continue to mobilise the public in forming concrete partnerships and craft implementable strategies to defeat the scourge of crime,” she concluded.

via - SAPS