Issued by: SA Communication Service
ROBBERY STATISTICS
I have taken note of some media reports which tend to reflect an inaccurate interpretation of statistics relating to bank robberies, thus creating a perception that all robberies in general have increased.
The council of South African Banks, which earlier this week issued a statement that bank robberies had increased, did not disagree with police statistics regarding the general decline of armed robberies. The perception, however, is created that there is a contradiction between the statistics of the SAPS and that of COSAB, which is not the case as suggested in some media reports.
The main factor that could have led to this misunderstanding of the facts, is that the statistics of the SAPS are defined and categorised in accordance with the crime code. It must be pointed out that the latest available and official statistics of the SAPS cover the period from January to September 1997, whereas COSAB's include all bank robberies that occurred during the whole of 1997.
Therefore it will be wrong to imply that the two sets of statistics are in conflict with each other for the above reasons.
We must be realistic though, that while statistics indicate either a decline or a stabilisation in serious crimes, except for rape, we acknowledge the levels of crime remain unacceptably high.
The Department of Safety and Security and COSAB have a common enemy which they must fight together in order to end the scourge of armed robberies. I urge all the role players including the media to play a constructive role in our joint responsibility to fight crime in our country.
Enquiries : ANDRE MARTIN or JOSEPH NGOBENI Tel : (012) 339 1522 (012) 339 1592 Cell : 082 373 2005 082 800 3672