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Crime statistics for Gauteng show a marginal and welcome decrease, however the number of contact and violent crimes across the province remain unacceptably high. Gauteng also shows the lowest decrease in major crimes committed overall.
On average 8 people are murdered every day in the province. There are 34 sexual offences committed daily and 177 burglaries occur at Gauteng homes every day. Gauteng has also become the country’s drug capital with 25 949 incidents of drug related crime detected, up from 16 457 in the previous year.
Serious questions exist about the validity and reliability of these figures and the effectiveness of policing in the province. The DA believes Gauteng Community Safety MEC Faith Mazibuko should undertake an external independent audit of the provincial crime statistics.
According to the recent crime victims survey South Africans have very little faith in the South African Police Service (SAPS) which leads to a significant under-reporting of crime statistics. This is particularly true of sexual offences.
The marginal reduction in contact and violent crime in the province is a result of increased visible policing. However, much more can be done in this regard – particularly in areas like Muldersdrift – to ensure that the opportunity to commit crime is reduced.
The MEC must also champion the reintroduction of specialised units, particularly the narcotics bureau and sexual offences units, and the establishment of a rural safety unit to combat crimes in the outlying areas of the province.
Real-time crime statistics must be made available to the public at station level. This will not only give the public information on the nature and extent of crime in their area, but also allow the SAPS to tailor local responses relevant to present-day realities and inform provincial policing priorities.
Annual crime statistics which are already six months out of date are not acceptable and too late to be of real use.