Wednesday’s eventual release of the annual crime statistics — for the period April 1 2005 to March 31 2006 — raised strident calls for the figures to be made public more regularly.
Democratic Alliance spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard said the government’s continued refusal to publish crime statistics on a more regular basis meant the public had to wait another year before finding out just how serious the current crime spike affecting the country was.
”The Minister [of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula] already has statistics for the period April 1 to August 31 2006 and there is no reason why he cannot release this information tomorrow,” she said.
The Inkatha Freedom Party’s (IFP) Koos van der Merwe agreed, saying quarterly crime statistics should be released so that police could react swiftly to trends in various areas and communities could be more vigilant.
Kohler-Barnard said from the available statistics it was clear government was nowhere near achieving its own target of bringing down serious contact crimes by between 7% and 10% a year.
”Instead, the increases in cash-in-transit heists [74,1%] and car hijackings [3,1%] suggest that the police are losing the battle against heavily armed and well-organised crime syndicates.
”Rather than providing solace, the latest stats should be a major cause for concern to all South Africans, particularly as the country prepares to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup,” she said.
That murder fell by a nominal 2%, rape by 1% and indecent assault by 3,8%, hardly provided much comfort for the South African public.
”These crime statistics are out of date by at least six months, which means that they in no way take into account the massive spike in crime since March this year.”
Insurance and tracking companies indicated earlier this month that car hijackings had increased from 12 434 in 2004/05 to over 15 864 so far this year — exceeding highs last recorded in 2001/02.
”Hollard Insurance recorded a 30% to 40% increase in carjackings between March and June compared with last year, and increases of between 20% and 30% for July and August.”
Another cause for concern was that crimes such as rape and indecent assault were considerably under-reported, Kohler-Barnard said.
Van der Merwe said the statistics were cause for great concern, especially the increased cash-in-transit heists and car hijackings.
”Crime is one of the key problems affecting all South Africans and it has also been blamed in a recent report for almost a fifth of white South Africans emigrating in the past 10 years.
”Shocking crimes, such as aggravated robbery, hijackings, rape and murder are crippling South Africans from all walks of life and are still at an unacceptably high level,” he said.
”Though these figures released today [Wednesday] show a slight decrease in murder, rape, indecent assaults and burglary, the IFP feels disappointed that still not enough is being done to give South Africans a right to live life free of fear,” Van der Merwe said.
Independent Democrats spokesperson Avril Harding called for a national crime summit attended by every sector of society to draw up a comprehensive solution to crime.
The minor decreases in murder and rape were nowhere near the decreases needed to convince that the police’s crime-fighting strategies were working.
The 74% increase in cash-in-transit heists was a direct indication that the police special units were failing, Harding said.
Pieter Groenewald of the Freedom Front Plus proposed an independent audit to give the statistics more credibility, and added his voice to calls for quarterly statistics to be released.
”The statistics show a decrease in crime but it is not what the public is experiencing,” he said.
Crime spike
There was a spike in crime between April and June especially in Gauteng, Nqakula revealed in the briefing at the Union buildings in Pretoria.
However, a detailed breakdown would only be published next year, he said.
National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi explained that including these statistics would distort those for the financial year.
”In this period there was a strike by security guards. This meant some of the areas which were guarded by the security guards were left unattended,” Selebi said.
The violence of the strike also meant that police had to be taken from their normal duties to police the strikers.
”Our resources were stretched,” Selebi said.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) released its crime statistics for the 2005/2006 financial year in its annual report published on Wednesday.
”What we will do next year is that the statistics will be published soon after the end of the financial year and will be separated from the SAPS annual report,” Nqakula said.
He noted that all eight categories of contact crimes had decreased in the past year.
Four had shown significant decreases; common robbery by 18,3%, attempted murder by 16,6%, common assault by 15,6% and serious and violent assaults by 9,6%.
”We are satisfied, in those categories, the target set by government of reducing serious and violent crimes was achieved,” he said.
The decrease in the number of robberies with aggravating circumstances was also ”encouraging”.
Murders, rapes and indecent assaults ”remain a cause for concern” despite decreases, said Nqakula
”We are unhappy …. that the decreases have not been as dramatic as the case is regarding the other crime types.”
The minister said challenges still remained when it came to alcohol and drug abuse, which continued to be a problem as ”generators of crime”.
Nqakula said the police had focused on serious and violent crimes since the middle of July with cordon-and-search operations and roadblocks.
He said that between July and September 384 people were arrested for 687 cases under investigation.
”There are, in a nutshell, 234 suspects who will be charged in 216 cases for serious and violent crimes. Repeat offenders who were arrested total 150 having been linked to 471 cases.”
The police would continue to pay attention to serious and violent crime.
Nqakula said 5 956 firearms were recovered from the middle of June to the end of July as part of an ongoing project to reduce the circulation of illegal firearms in South Africa. There were also 23 482 firearms destroyed.
He said more than 15 syndicate leaders and 51 of their runners were arrested between June and July. Nqakula said crimes against women and children continued to be a source of deep concern with slight increases in particularly rape and indecent assault.
”The light at the end of the tunnel, though, is the encouraging response from victims who are coming forward to report such crimes”.
”Where I stand I feel that South Africa is indeed enjoying better safety than the case has been in the past. But more than this, the future looks even much rosier than the present is,” Nqakula said.
South African attitudes about the fight against crime had changed.
There was an understanding that the police could not be expected to be the only people responsible for crime fighting.
”What has happened that I am very excited about is that more people … are coming forward and saying we will be part and parcel of the fight against crime,” Nqakula said at the briefing.
‘Cause for concern’
Negative crime trends have continued beyond the period covered by the police’s annual crime report and could overshadow successes, Business Against Crime (BAC) warned.
While welcoming the report on crime statistics, BAC chief executive Siphiwe Nzimande said information from the business sector confirmed continuing high levels of serious and violent crime.
These included robberies undertaken by well-armed, highly organised gangs targeting the cash-in-transit, gambling and retail sectors.
”Both the number of aggravated robberies and the financial losses incurred remain a serious cause of concern,” read a statement from Nzimande.
”However, owing to proactive and decisive action taken by both business and government, the number of fatalities and deaths in these robberies is being minimised.”
Nzimande said the newly released crime statistics indicated that steady progress was continuing.
”These positive tendencies are, however, counterbalanced by negative trends in specified crime categories, notably in respect of serious and violent crime instigated by organised crime syndicates.
”These negative trends have continued beyond the reporting period and have the potential to overshadow successes achieved in the year under review in the national fight against crime,” he said.