Gauteng has recorded a sharp rise in kidnappings, murder and other forms of contact crimes including robbery.
This was revealed by provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni, in his maiden address since being appointed to the hot seat.
The commissioner on Tuesday said the murder rate in the province has risen by 3% in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared with the previous year with nearly 1 800 people killed. The stats reveal that of these, 214 were women and 50 were children.
Mthombeni presented the province’s 3rd Quarter CrimeStats for the 2023/24 financial year to the Gauteng Legislature’s Community Safety Portfolio Committee yesterday at the Raddison Hotel in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni.
Even though the province’s contribution to the country’s crime stats was consistently going down over the past five years, Mthombeni said, he is still concerned about the increase in kidnappings for ransom and other crimes especially, contact crimes, sexual offence and other categories.
“We are deeply worried about crimes that fall under this category, especially murder, attempted murder and robbery with aggravated circumstances as they are stubbornly high.
“The majority of these crimes are influenced by a wide range of factors and generators. Murder and other contact crimes.
“During this period under review, 1 787 people were killed in Gauteng which reflects an increase of 3.8% which in turn translates to 66 counts.
“More than 214 were women, and 50 were children. An analysis of a sample of 1 691 cases reveal that the top three contributors to the general increase of murder were arguments, misunderstandings, provocation and road rage,” he said.
As for the surge in kidnappings, Mthombeni said he is concerned about this scourge which shows that 77 people were kidnapped for ransom between October and December 2023, with seven kidnapped for human trafficking purposes.
“We are worried and everyone is worried when it comes to kidnappings. We know for a fact that the majority of people are kidnapped for ransom.
“We have put together teams to help us track and trace kidnappers through vehicle tracking devices as some of the incidents happen around construction sites with construction mafias.
“That team is linked to the criminal records centre and the tracker that connects us with tracking systems to the cars. We are making inroads through community networks who also help us,” he added.
The statistics showed that there was a slight reduction in sexual offences (79 fewer counts – 3 145 in 2022 compared with 3 066 in 2023) and common assault (57 fewer counts – 14 357 in 2022 compared with 14 300 in 2023) compared to the same period in 2022.
When it comes to interventions made to curb crime in crime hotspots such as Westbury, Eldorado Park, Diepsloot and Rietgat, Gauteng Provincial Head, Brigadier David Bender, indicated that inroads are being made to resolve crime in these areas even though there are still social and service delivery challenges impacting negatively on the police’s crime-fighting efforts.
“Noteworthy successes have been achieved as reflected in the presentation. However, with minimal impact on the normalisation phase, this highlights the need for continued efforts and collaborations among all stakeholders to address underlying issues and achieve the desired outcomes,” said Bender.
The Star