Durban — KwaZulu-Natal political parties and community policing forums expressed their disappointment as murder cases increased nationally by a staggering 11%, with KZN recording the highest number – over 1 600.
Gauteng was second with 1 490 murder cases while 994 were recorded in the Western Cape.
This comes after Minister of Police Bheki Cele released the latest crime statistics on Friday.
Cele stated that more than 6 400 people were killed in the three months between April and June.
Political parties argued that the statistics indicated in no uncertain terms that the government's strategy to combat crime has failed.
DA spokesperson on Community Safety and Liaison, Sharon Hoosen said the minister had shown time and again that he did not prioritise the safety of KZN’s communities, in particular that of women and children.
She said the marginal decreases in some crime categories were cold comfort for those who continued to live in fear on a daily basis.
“The figures, which show marginal decreases in some areas, show that the SAPS remains out of its depth and criminals continue to regard KZN as a safe haven,” said Hoosen.
She stated that people were fast becoming desensitised to ever-increasing crime levels as they faced a never-ending onslaught of violence.
“It is clear that no number of crime turnaround strategies will save our province when all Cele and his police top brass do is provide lip service. This is evidenced by the fact that the SAPS is no longer able to function effectively without sufficient resources and tools of trade, enough staff and proper training,” said Hoosen.
The National Freedom Party's Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam said the crime stats indicated that South Africa was becoming a “crime-infested hot spot”.
He said that this was painting a horrifying and unsafe picture for women and children.
“If you look at almost every category of crime in this country, you will see that women and children are disproportionately affected. In just the last quarter it was reported that 855 women and 243 children were killed, which is a staggering 53% and 46% increase respectively. How is this acceptable?” asked Emam.
Emam added that the release of the statistics in the middle of Women’s Month showed that despite the government's pomp and ceremony to showcase their success in advancing the rights of women, they had failed women miserably.
“While the reported cases of sexual offences have decreased in the last quarter, there is still very little to celebrate. If we analyse the number of children who gave birth to children last year, we will realise the amount of unreported cases of statutory rape, even if it was consensual.”
Emam said crime could not be looked at in isolation from the increase in unemployment, high school dropout rates and continued disintegration of the family structure.
The IFP’s Zandile Majozi said they were viewing the alleged drop in reported rape cases with caution.
“South Africa is still a dangerous country for women and the reported rape statistics are still incredibly high. What is especially alarming is that 1 564 of these reported rape cases happened in public spaces. Could this have been prevented? What safety measures are available in public spaces, and how can they be extended?”
She said the IFP refused to accept that South Africans were “trigger happy” and violent.
“We want to raise questions around the access to firearms. The issues of firearm licensing and the purchase of illegal firearms must be urgently addressed. South Africa needs… more practical programmes of action that deliver results, particularly when it comes to the safety and security of our citizens.”
Speaking to the Daily News on Sunday, KZN violence monitor Mary de Haas said the comparisons between quarters were meaningless.
De Haas said that murders or rapes might go up one quarter and down the next, adding that crime trends could only be established when stats were looked at over several years.
“We have extremely serious policing problems. The budget has gone up in past decades but we have 20 000 fewer police. A major contributing factor to expenditure is that we pay far too much to top-heavy management; far too many brigadiers and generals whose positions are superfluous and many incompetent because they were appointed for political or nepotistic reasons.
“SAPS could employ many more junior members who do the hands-on policing work if you cut right back on all these unnecessary top staff.”
Chairperson of the Bulwer Safety and Urban Regeneration Forum, Heather Roos said the rise in all the top crimes such as murder, attempted murder and carjacking, was worrisome.
“People are too scared to even go to shopping malls anymore as business crimes have escalated so that criminals do not care and are not afraid to enter busy shopping malls now. This is putting all lives at risk. Criminals do not fear the law – they are too confident that if they are caught they are not going to be in jail long,” said Roos.
Daily News