Crime stats have revealed that Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal have the highest number of cases with the top 10 police stations located in these provinces.
According to the head of police crime research and statistics Lieutenant-General Norman Sekhukhune, there has been an increase in the number of serious and violent cases reported in these areas in the fourth quarter of the financial year under review.
Sekhukhune told Parliament that Johannesburg Central police Station was sitting at number one with 1 054 cases reported in the first three months of the year, which is a 6.7% increase compared to January and March last year.
It was followed by Mfuleni in the Western Cape, Nyanga and Mitchells Plains in the same province.
In Mfuleni, 959 cases were reported between January and March this year, which is a 19.7% increase.
In Nyanga there were 950 cases reported early this year, an increase of 13.4%.
In Mitchells Plain there were 933 cases, an increase of 20.5% compared to the same period last year.
By the time of the stats release, Thembisa on Gauteng’s East and, was sitting at number four (with 927 cases) with Durban central (927) followed by Plessislaer (892), and Inanda (882 cases), all in KwaZulu-Natal.
Temba in Gauteng was in ninth position (with 838 cases) followed by Delft in the Western Cape with 812 cases.
Police Minister Bheki Cele who briefed the National Assembly’s portfolio committee on police on Tuesday on the crime statistics for the fourth quarter, said the police will do everything in their power to ensure that these crime hotspots were attended to with the deployment of more resources.
National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Fannie Masemola supported Cele in saying they wanted to put more resources where there was a spike in crime.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
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