ZULULANDERS are ‘not as safe as they should be in their homes’ according to local crime experts.
With the latest crime statistics showing an upward curve in murder, attempted murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances, the situation has been described as a ‘serious concern’ for Zululand’s crime fighting authorities.
Comments from Business Against Crime (BAC) Manager and police reservist Dave Whittaker follow the release of crime statistics for the 2013/14 financial year on Friday.
For the first time in 20 years, the number of murders has increased for a second consecutive year.
Incidents increased from 16 259 murders in 2012/13 to 17 068 in 2013/14 – a 5% spike.
This means that there were 809 more people killed than in the previous year. This comes on the back of a similar increase in 2012/13 when 650 more murders were recorded compared to 2011/12.
South Africa’s murder rate increased from an average of 45 murders per day to 47.
With 3 625 murders, KZN recorded more killings than the Eastern Cape (3 453) or Gauteng (3 333), which also documented increased murder rates.
With the highest rate in the country, KZN has been described as the ‘riskiest’ province in which to live.
Attempted murder also went up countrywide by 4.6%, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm increased by 1.5% and robbery with aggravated circumstances was up by 12.7%.
Personal safety
Crimes relating to personal safety and business such as house robbery, business robbery and carjacking, increased by 10.8%.
Carjackings rose by 12.3%, truck hijackings recorded a 12.1% increase, robbery recorded a 13.7% spike, and robbery in residential areas went up by 7.4%.
‘We are very concerned with the increase in murder, home and business robberies and are particularly worried about the violence associated with these robberies,’ said Whittaker.
‘During the past year we have seen a number of violent robberies in Empangeni and more recently it has begun in Richards Bay.
‘The rise in home invasions and business robberies is very disturbing,’ said Whittaker.
‘ When the Empangeni statistics soared, some good arrests were made and it stopped for a period. But it has started again. Local police are good at solving major crimes quickly and efficiently and we will see more arrests soon.
‘We are however concerned about the safety of residents in Empangeni and Richards Bay.’
He said latest research showed that a maximum of 50% of crimes had not been reported.
‘People must report crime as this dictates if police stations are adequately resourced and helps in the reduction of overall crime. Police conduct data mining every day and identify crime trends. When they see a similar picture emerging, they act immediately.’
White collar crime
Whittaker said he was concerned about the capacity of the SAPS to deal with white collar crime, including scams and fraud.
‘We need to have a highly qualified forensic team to investigate financial fraud and a lot more resources are needed to solve more intricate and financially challenging crime in Zululand,’ Whittaker said.
Currently, South Africa has one police officer for every 346 South Africans.
Yesterday a guy wanted to break into a car of the business next door to where I work. The employees caught the guy and phoned the police. The police came… only for the thief to escape while in their custody. We were all shocked to see this guy bolting out with the police making a very lacking attempt to chase after him. (Meaning they leisurely walked to their vehicle and drove after him after he was long gone). Pathetic in the least.
cubb adt national all the security comp must get involved they can prevent all these incidents the police are useless get government to sponsor you if you need money
We had an attempted housebreaking at 1.30am this morning even though we have outside beams, and an alarm system installed which cover’s all areas – it’s escalating out of control and the sad part is that our police are lackadaisical. My 69 year old husband stood in the queue for 35 minutes for his ID to be verified and when the only police officer assisting the public was joined by another police officer, he turned his back on my husband and began helping the man just behind him. He was the only white person and sad to say although we voted for equality for all, racism is alive and well in South Africa