MEC VOWS TO CRUSH CRIME

The MEC for Police, Roads and Transport Butana Komphela, has vowed that the provincial government will intensifies its fight against crime after it was revealed that serious and contact crimes have increased in the province.

Komphela was announcing crime statistics for the 2011/2012 financial year. He disclosed that contact crimes like sexual offences, murder and aggravated robbery accounted for 35.9 percent of the Free State’s recorded serious crimes yesterday.

“For the 2011/12 financial year (April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012) the sexual offences ratio increased by 1.8 percent. Rape increased by 2.5 percent but it is unacceptably high.”
In 2010/2011 financial year, contact crime decreased by 2.9 percent and for the financial year under review, recorded a marginal increase of 0.7 percent.

“Contact crime has however been significantly reduced by 19.8 percent from 2004/2005 to 2011/2012,” said Komphela.
The current financial year recorded no increase or decrease in murder while murders per 100 000 of the population in the province experienced an increase of 2.3 percent. There is a 6.8 percent (61) increase in murder from 2004 to 2011.

Organised crimes which include carjacking, cash-in-transit and bank robbery saw a decrease and stagnation have been recorded except for an increase in car hijackings. It increased by 25.9 percent for 2010/2011 financial year and 20.9 percent for the 2011/2012 financial year.

In 2010/11 robbery with aggravating circumstances decreased by 2.3 percent while in 2011/2012 it increased by 10.3 percent. Common robberies decreased by 3.9 percent in 2011/2012 and over.
An increase has been recorded in business robberies by 0.8 percent and house robberies by 4.8 percent. There was an increase in burglary at residential premises in 2011/12 with 1.9 percent and a decrease of 14.6 percent from 2004/2005 to 2011/2012 over the eight year period.

The illegal possession of firearms went down by a marginal 1.5 percent during 2011/2012, while ATM bombings also decreased from 15 cases to 11, during the current financial year. Commercial crime dropped by 59.1 percent for 2011/2012.

Stock theft increased by 6.2 percent in 2011/2012 and since 2004 increased by 4.5 percent.

Drug related crime ratio increased by 6.0 percent in 2011/2012 while recording a decrease in drunken driving in 2010/2011 with 4.2 percent while the current financial year decreased by 3.8 percent.
Theft out of motor vehicle during 2011/12 increased by 14.6 percent while in the past eight years it decreased by 31.4 percent.