Gauteng is becoming the safest province in the country, figures from the provincial government and some independent organisations have confirmed, the South African government news agency, BuaNews, reported on Wednesday.
The Institute for Security Studies and the South African Insurance Association have both confirmed that the government’s efforts to fight crime are beginning to bear fruit, it reported.
Gauteng community safety minister Firoz Cachalia attributed all this to the increased number of police officers in the province. In the past financial year, 1 335 additional officers were deployed in Gauteng.
Briefing the media in Johannesburg, Cachalia said in terms of violent crimes, a 3,1% drop has been recorded in bank robberies, including a 20,7% drop in cash-in-transit robberies and a 23% decrease in hijackings.
”For this reason, the conviction rate of 16,3% in the area of serious and violent crimes has been recorded.
”Also in the past year, the reporting of crimes against women and children increased by 1,8%, leading to the increase in the arrest of the perpetrators by 29%.”
The conviction rate of those who committed these crimes increased by 22,7% by the end of 2004, the news agency reported.
Police seized drugs amounting to the value of just more than $9-million last year, and in cases involving corrupt police members, 93 cases were registered and 114 arrests made.
Cachalia added that the family violence, child abuse and sexual offences unit has enhanced its analysis capacity in all its 11 sub-units, which led to 25 serial offenders operating in Gauteng being identified.
”These [sub-]units have also assisted in an operation to clamp down on child prostitution in Gauteng,” he said.
This resulted in the arrest of 76 suspects and 42 children being removed from the
streets in Gauteng. The operation continues.
In the next financial year, he said the launch of the railway police will also improve safety and crime prevention for all commuters using trains.
The pilot project will have 12 sites in Gauteng, five in Pretoria and seven in Johannesburg.
Also, as part of safety at schools, the department is to ensure that safety measures are implemented to intensify operations around drugs in schools. — I-Net Bridge