- Several police stations in Cape Town continue to rank among the highest in the national crime statistics.
- The recent Memorandum of Understanding signed by local and national authorities aims to foster better collaboration in policing.
- Despite increased efforts, the rise in violent crimes like attempted murder and assault remains a major concern.
As has been the ongoing trend, several local police stations continue to top the charts in the overall crime statistics for the country.
Released by police minister Senzo Mchunu on Friday 30 August, the announcement of the national crime statistics for the period April to June coincided with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between police, the Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town. The MOU seeks to encourage more collaborative policing. With local authorities having advocated for control over the policing in the province for many years, this move takes them one step closer to this goal.
Crime statistics
For the overall combined 17 serious crime categories, Cape Town Central tops the national 30 list, with Mitchells Plain in third, Kraaifontein in 11th, Mfuleni in 12th, Delft in 20th and Nyanga in 28th position.
In looking at some of these specific crime categories, more than 6 000 murders were registered over the past six months, with Nyanga topping the national list with 79 registered cases, followed by Khayelitsha in fourth, with 68 in Harare, Delft, Philippi East, Mfuleni, Kraaifontein, Mitchells Plain, Gugulethu, Samora Machel and Kleinvlei all feature in the top 30.
Chair of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ian Cameron, says the crime statistics point to the need to urgently capacitate the detective and crime intelligence services as a tool to reverse the scourge of crime in South Africa.
“One of the contributing factors to an unsafe country is the inability to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of crime. With enhanced training and capacitation of detectives, crimes will be effectively investigated and perpetrators will be prosecuted,” says Cameron in a statement.
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The portfolio committee has previously emphasised its belief that South Africa continues to rely heavily on reactive policing due to inadequate intelligence services.
“(The) intelligence service is incapable to gather information and prevent crimes from happening,” Cameron says.
While the committee welcomed the steps to increase personnel within the ranks of the South African Police Service, Cameron cautions that more boots on the ground without investigative capacity will render the increase in police officers pointless.
Cameron continues that the 15% increase in attempted murder and 6% increase in assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm is also worrying. While the 10,5% decrease in sexual assault cases reported was welcomed, the high number of rape cases reported remains a deep concern, with 9 309 cases reported, an increase of 0,6%.
Premier Alan Winde says the numbers are deeply concerning and must make us redouble our efforts. He states: “These statistics, as well as the findings of the latest Victims of Crime Survey, reflect the reality so many of our residents have to endure daily. This is not lost on us. The figures must shock us into decisive action, where collaboration and partnerships, not cheap politicking, guide us in how best to combat crime in all its forms. While we analyse and digest the data, we must also commit to urgently implementing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which the WCG, the City of Cape Town and the national government signed today in Cape Town. This is an important occasion signalling a commitment from all of us to work closely together to tackle the scourge of crime. Our residents look to us for action and hope. We must not fail them.”
Memorandum of Understanding
Winde says the MOU is an encouraging step towards more collaborative policing, based on evidence and data, which has been at the heart of the Western Cape Government’s approach to addressing crime as outlined in its Safety Plan.
“My sincere hope is that this MOU will translate into the South African Police Service in the Western Cape being adequately resourced to more effectively do its job in making communities safer. We must learn from the past and constantly revisit policing models based on our data-led approach. While we will work closer with the police, thanks to this agreement, the WCG will still push for the devolution of policing powers because we believe that it is in the local sphere where you can make a major difference,” says Winde in a statement.
“The MoU must focus on ensuring that the police crime intelligence is shared among stakeholders; and that resources are concentrated in areas that require them the most and are allocated and deployed according to a data and evidence-led approach, which the WCG has adopted in its Safety Plan. This is why closer cooperation between the provincial government, the national government, the Western Cape police and municipal law enforcement efforts is imperative.”
Anaroux Marais, Western Cape Minister for Police Oversight and Community Safety, continues: “This MOU has long been a priority of the Western Cape Government, but it has taken up until now to come to fruition. The role of the Western Cape Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety is coordination and oversight, and I am satisfied with the outcome. Far too often in the past, the relationships between spheres of government regarding crime-fighting in the Western Cape were confrontational rather than cooperative.”
JP Smith, Mayco member for safety and security, says along with the agreement, a pledge was signed to work together in a spirit of mutual respect, trust, and cooperation to make Cape Town a safer place for all residents.
Smarter policing
“The implementation agreement will be the driving force behind this collaborative effort to reduce crime in our city significantly. It is the engine that drives the initiative and we should not allow the foot to be taken off the pedal,” he says.
As part of the agreement, we call on the national minister to expand the policing powers for law enforcement and metro police to ensure we can play a more proactive and effective role in combatting serious crime. We are also pleased to see a decrease in the murder rate for the Cape Town District, but to turn the tide we need to be able to do more, targeting the extortion and gang syndicate leadership that does much harm to our communities,” says Smith.
“The City of Cape Town through its decade-long investment in technology, our investigative and information management units can significantly bolster and revitalise crime intelligence.”
The goal is to see shared intelligence by streamlining the exchange of vital information among agencies, planning of joint operations and gathering of evidence effectively.
Premier Winde urged stakeholders to implement the MoU with urgency and to see that it fully embraces technology and intelligence.
“Backed by intelligence-gathering and technological enhancements, we can give our police officers and law enforcement officers an added edge to stay one step ahead of criminals,” says Winde.
