GEORGE NEWS - Judging by the crime statistics for the last quarter of the 2021/22 financial year, South Africa may as well have been at war. The first three months of 2022 were unsafe, violent and brutal.
Nearly 2 000 more people were murdered in South Africa from January to March, than people killed during the Ukrainian war that started in February.
According to the police, 6 083 people were murdered in this period - a shocking 1 107 cases more than last year. This is the equivalent of 68 people per day - the highest number recorded over this period in the last five years. Rape statistics are equally horrific.
On average, 121 people were raped daily, totalling 10 818 reported rapes.
This paints no rosy picture, but sadly, for South African citizens, crime statistics like these have become the norm.
The total reported crimes in SA during the fourth quarter increased significantly.
Contact crimes, including assault and sexual offences, saw a jump of 15%, with violent crimes like murder (22.2% increase), serious assault (18.1% increase) and sexual offences (13.7% increase) also recording double-digit growth.
* The statistics quoted in this article compares cases reported for the period January to March 2022 with the statistics for the same period last year, January to March 2021.
Crime in George
In total, contact crimes in the George area increased by 33 cases, from 886 to 919. Contact crimes include murder, sexual offences, attempted murder, assault and robbery.
A total of 30 murders and 69 cases of rape were reported collectively from the four police stations (Conville, George, Pacaltsdorp and Thembalethu) this year. Last year, 22 murders and 52 rape cases were reported.
Of the four stations, Thembalethu reported the most murder cases (14). Conville had six - the same as last year - while George and Pacaltsdorp reported five murders each. For George, this is four more than last year and for Pacaltsdorp, it is two more.
In Conville 19 rape cases were reported (12 last year) and George reported 18 cases of rape (12 last year). Thembalethu showed an increase of five rape cases from 18 last year to 23 this year and Pacaltsdorp, the only station to show a slight decrease in rape cases, reported nine this year compared to last year's 10.
"While South Africa recently commemorated child protection week, the new crime statistics show that child murders are up by 37% in the last quarter," said Ian Cameron, director of community safety at Action Society. "It is a disgrace that children are not safe in our country, and all because of political interference in law-enforcement."
According to Cameron, South Africa is a bloodbath and cadre deployment is the root cause of the destruction of the police services.
"Most violent crime has increased with reported rape cases up by a shocking 13.7% and murder up by 22.2% and the conviction rate seems to be on the decrease. South Africa will soon be one of the kidnapping hotspots in the world, and once again, women and children are left to fend for themselves as political leadership has destroyed the integrity of the Saps," he said.
Assault GBH
In Pacaltsdorp, assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) increased by a whopping 22 reported cases, from 26 last year to 48 this year.
Both Thembalethu and Conville, on the other hand, showed decreases with 33 fewer cases in Thembalethu (102 last year to 69 this year) and 30 fewer cases in Conville (86 last year to 56 this year). George reported 37 cases of assault GBV this year, which is 12 more than last year.
Burglaries
Overall, there has been a slight increase in residential and business burglaries in George with a total of 332 residential burglaries reported from all four stations this year (281 last year). Pacaltsdorp especially showed a spike, with 36 more residential burglaries than last year (from 37 to 73).
Business burglaries also showed a significant increase with seven cases reported last year compared to 18 this year.
In Thembalethu, business burglaries indicated a slight decrease with six fewer cases than last year's 16, and a marginal increase in residential burglaries - one more case than last year's 59.
Conville had only one more business burglary than last year's 20, but 74 cases of residential burglary compared to last year's 65. George had 59 business burglaries - an increase of seven from last year's 52 - and 125 residential burglaries.
Crimes detected as a result of police action
On a more positive note, the stats also show increased police activity, with crimes detected as a result of police action rising. Collectively, 237 more crimes were detected as a result of police action for the four stations in the George area. At 604 this year, it is nearly double last year's 367.
These crimes include the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, drug-related crime, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and sexual offences.
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