Murders are down in the Mitchell’s Plain policing precinct but on the rise in the Lentegeur and Strandfontein precincts, according to the latest crime reports for July to September 2024.

Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu released the latest crime statistics on Monday November 25, which marked the start of the annual 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children Campaign.

The crime report for the Mitchell’s Plain policing precinct, revealed that contact crimes (against the person), which include murder and attempted murder, decreased by 3% from 855 during June to September 2023 to 829 for the same period in 2024.

Murders are down by eight counts, attempted murders decreased from 54 to 34 cases, and common assault cases are down from 400 cases last year to 378.

Mitchell’s Plain rape cases are down to 15 from 21 last year, sexual assault cases stayed the same at 13 cases, and contact sexual offences decreased from two last year, to one case in the last quarter. However, attempted sexual offences increased from zero to five cases.

While the number of car-jacking cases stayed the same at 19, robberies at residential and non-residential properties in the Mitchell’s Plain precinct increased by six and one counts, respectively.

Property-related crime, which include burglaries and theft of and out of motor vehicles, decreased by 35.4% from 393 cases from June to September 2023 to 254 for the same period this year.

While other serious crime in Mitchell’s Plain, including commercial theft, decreased by 29.7%, commercial crimes increased by 8.8%. Community reported serious crime decreased by 415 cases from 2 291 in June to September 2023, to 1 876 cases for the same period this year.

Norman Jantjies, chairpeson of the Mitchell's Plain community police forum (CPF), said the forum notes with concern the crime statistics, especially the high levels of murders and attempted murders.

“The only period when we witnessed a significant decline was during the Covid-19 pandemic. Imagine, we had 34 murders and 39 attempted murders between July and Sept 2024.

“During this period we also had a total of 43 cases of illegal possession of firearms. This is totally unacceptable, as these firearms are used to commit murder and attempted murder,” he said.

Mr Jantjies said the CPF is pleased to note a slight decline in rape and other sexual assault cases.

“We urge SAPS to work closer with the community through the various community safety structures, such as the CPF, sub-forums and neighbourhood watch groups, and to increase some resources such as police vehicles. We also need more detectives to facilitate more convictions and general service delivery.

“We, however, wish to urge the community to be more vigilant and safely share information with the police. We also encourage them to join the safety structures so that we can increase the boots on the ground,” Mr Jantjies added.

In the Strandfontein policing precinct, contact crimes increased by 1.9% from 53 during the same period in 2023 to 54, which includes one murder, three sexual offences, one attempted murder, 25 common assault cases and 10 robberies with aggravating circumstances.

Strandfontein rape cases are up to three from zero last year, sexual assault is down by one case from three last year, and contact sexual offences went up from zero to one case in the last quarter.

One car-jacking and one robbery at a non-residential property were reported in the Strandfontein precinct during the last quarter.

Property-related crime, which include burglaries and theft of and out of motor vehicles, increased by 20.9% from 43 cases from June to September 2023 to 52 for the same period this year.

Community reported serious crime increased by 17 cases from 181 in June to September 2023, to 198 cases for the same period this year.

Responding to the crime statistics released for Strandfontein police precinct, Sandy Schuter-Flowers, chairperson of the Strandfontein CPF, called for “accurate crime reporting and community policing”.

“As I analyse the crime statistics, it's clear that there's been an overall increase in crime.

“However, I've noticed a discrepancy between reported crimes on social media platforms like WhatsApp and those officially reported to the police.

“This gap creates a perception that the statistics don't accurately reflect the community's experiences.

“I urge residents to report crimes to the police first, and then share the information on social media,” Ms Schuter-Flowers said.

According to the crime report for the Lentegeur policing precinct, contact crimes (against the person) decreased by 7.7% from 428 during the same period in 2023 to 395, even though murders increased by five, attempted murders by seven and common assault cases by 12.

Lentegeur police station commander, Colonel Umavathie Ramesh, has attributed the decrease in contact crimes to a “targeted policing approach in the affected sectors”.

Colonel Ramesh said murder, attempted murder and aggravated robberies remain a priority for the station.

Lentegeur rape cases are down to nine from 19 last year, sexual assault is down by two cases and contact sexual offences decreased from one last year, to zero cases in the last quarter.

There has also been a decrease in car-jacking, and robberies at residential and non-residential properties in Lentegeur.

Property-related crime, which include burglaries and theft of and out of motor vehicles, decreased by 8.1% from 124 cases from June to September 2023 to 114 for the same period this year.

While other serious crime in Lentegeur, including commercial theft, decreased by 6.6%, commercial crimes increased by 63.8% and shoplifting were up by 16.3%.

Community reported serious crime decreased by 108 cases from 994 in June to September 2023, to 886 cases for the same period this year.

Byron de Villiers, outgoing chairperson of the Lentegeur CPF, said while he is happy to see a decrease in some crimes, the murder rate for the precinct "is still high“.

“It also needs to be noted that this is reported crime and so much crime goes unreported. We commend the station for putting in the effort as well as our community structures for sacrificing their time to ensure that crime does not escalate,” Mr De Villiers said.

Lentegeur police recently launched its safer festive season plan, which includes the deployment of community in blue members at shopping malls to prevent and respond to incidents of theft, car-jacking and commercial robberies.

“Our focus will be on the malls and tuck shops in the Lentegeur precinct, and the gang tension through our crime prevention unit.

"We will monitor the house robberies and car-jacking in our area by deploying more police visibility at night and early mornings.

We will also have external law enforcement deployment from the City of Cape Town,“ Colonel Ramesh added.

The Plainsman reached out to the station commanders of the Mitchell’s Plain and Strandfontein police stations for comment on the latest crime reports, but did not receive any feedback at the time of publication.

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