on crime statistics
4 July 2007
Western Cape Minister for Community Safety Leonard Ramatlakane says this
province is certainly a different place today since 2001/02 financial year.
That year, serious and violent crime was at an increase of seven percent with a
record number of 136 726 crimes committed. Minister Ramatlakane has briefed the
media today Wednesday, 4 July 2007 on the release of the annual crime
statistics in Pretoria yesterday.
Minister Ramatlakane said in reaction to the crime statistics for the
Western Cape: "When we came to this portfolio in 2001/02 we recognised that to
turn around the picture of increasing crime, we realised that our people are
central to our policing strategies, hence we capacitated our local Community
Policing Forums (CPFs) and getting our Bambanani against crime volunteers to be
involved in working in partnership with the police on this plan."
The plan: The People Oriented Policing strategy that the South African
Police Services (SAPS) rolled out then has had a positive impact in that it
resulted in the continuous reduction in contact crime in the Western Cape for
the last four years. For the last four years, as a result of the plan, we saw
an overall reduction in crime:
* 2003/04: a 2,2% reduction
* 2004/05: a 7,2% reduction
* 2005/06: a 17,5% reduction
* For the year in review 2006/07 a 4,3% reduction.
For the last four years, the Western Cape has shown a continuous decrease in
contact crime by 28%.
Our challenges
That most of the serious, murder, in particular is a crime committed are
committed by people on people who are close to one another at shebeens, at
private homes and in communities known to each other. That we are dealing with
at least 80% of murder is by a friend or a family member on a family member and
75 to 80% are people who know each other. That crime of robbery is committed to
maintain the drug or substance abuse where children and family members may also
be the victims
The killing of children like Mikayla Rossouw, remains a huge challenge and
concern that not only do we have do deal with the crime but it shows that these
crimes are always committed by people known to the parents of the victim.
Murder is a crime of stubbornness and passion. We also want to call on parents
of children to realise that they are the first line of defence in protecting
their children. It raises concern when a parent would only report her child
missing three days later. When police start to activate and search and find of
the child, that child has been killed.
Drug related crimes
We have noticed that drug related crimes have shown an increase of 17,8% for
this financial year under review. This, to us is a positive increase that we
always strive for because these are crimes that are reported and recorded as a
result of police detections, operations and interception work. The increase is
an indication that the work of the police and other law enforcement agencies in
places like Mitchell's Plain is producing result.
It further shows that our High Flyer programme is also beginning to bite.
Therefore we will continue with this plan as it has led to us closing the space
for drug dealers, gangsters gradually as a result of our partnerships with our
communities.
Our plan on the 15 stations identified by provincial government
The crime statistics has also shown that collectively, the 15 identified
areas contribute 50 % of contact to the province. Last month, during the
tabling of the budget speech of the Department of Community Safety, we
reflected on the 15 stations further alluding to the fact that resources and
equipment worth a R1 billion were being rolled out in those 15 areas.
As a response in turning around the picture, we have already started to see
good work being done in those areas. We have already deployed additional
experienced senior police officers from Deputy Provincial Commissioners to
Directors going to work at station level. We have rolled out and deployed more
police vehicles and resources to these areas.
We however are to request for a focus on the environmental design work to be
undertaken by the local government, this will allow police crime combating plan
more easy as they will now be able to access previously non-accessible areas.
Provincial government in the meantime is continuing with investment on building
social cohesion in those areas by rolling out sports against crime programmes
as well education and rehabilitation programmes.
Our focus on Nyanga
Nyanga remains a major challenge that we will not run away from but will
tackle and we are confident, we will turn that area around. It is for this
reason that while working a concrete crime combating policing plan for Nyanga
and Mitchell's Plain focusing on the war against drugs, we will do so not
leaving behind the involvement of those communities. Therefore, for Nyanga and
Guguletu, we are considering the roll out of close circuit television cameras
(CCTV).
"We are doing this realising that our ability to reduce crime in our
province, will not occur in one financial year, but will require a multiplicity
of strategies to be covered over a protracted period of time. We are confident
that we will turn around Nyanga with the strategies and plans that we have
rolled out."
"However we would always and once more call on the support, the partnership
of our communities through volunteers and our local crime fighting structures
for us to turn around Nyanga. As we had stated before, it is clear from the
analysis of many of these cases, that the government alone cannot reduce these
horrendous crime by themselves. It will require community participation in
protecting the most vulnerable people in our society."
"The reality is that the people we trust the most with our children, are our
neighbours, our family, have become the perpetrators of these crimes. The
people we least expect to commit crimes, have performed some of the most
heinous crimes our province has seen."
In this instance, 15 priority stations were identified as key focus areas
with over R1 billion worth of resources allocated to these areas. Stations such
as Nyanga, Khayelitsha and Harare are part of those priority stations that will
be receiving government and police attention.
Enquiries:
Makhaya Mani
Media Liaison Officer
Ministry of Community Safety, Western Cape
Tel: 021 48 38373
Cell: 082 780 4493
Issued by: Ministry of Community Safety, Western Cape Provincial
Government
4 July 2007
