The quarterly crime statistics for crimes recorded from 1 October to 31 December 2021, the third quarter of the 2021/22 book year, was released by police minister Gen Bheki Cele recently.
Compared to the same quarter the previous year (October to December 2020), as well as the second quarter (July to September 2021) the figures recorded at Kuils River police in general appear to be less bleak.
Following a bloody September last year which saw an unprecedented eight murders recorded in one week within the Kuils River precinct – and 15 murders in total in the second quarter – there were seven murders in the last three months of 2021 and eight attempted murders. This is also considerably less than the 17 murders and 39 cases of attempted murder recorded from October to December 2020.
The total number of contact crimes (280 cases) is the lowest recorded for the quarter in five years with 57 cases less from 337 in the previous year.
The total of 16 sexual offences recorded include 11 rape cases.
Rape cases within the same quarter in the previous four years ranged from nine to 16 cases and the total sexual offences (which also include sexual assault, attempted and contact sexual offences) ranged from 17 to 22 cases.
Six carjacking cases were recorded, down from eight in the corresponding period in 2020.
One truck hijacking was recorded after none in the previous six months (April to September), but one case in the first three months of 2021 and three between October and December 2020.
Residential robberies saw an increase to eight cases (from five), while non-residential robberies saw a decrease of seven cases to 15.
The one arson case reported is the lowest number compared to the same period the previous four years (2017 to 2020) which ranged between three to six cases (five in 2020).
Malicious damage to property showed a slight increase at 81 cases.
There were 35 cases of non-residential burglaries – an increase compared to the same quarter in 2019 (17 cases) and 2020 (27 cases), but less than in 2017 (42 cases) and 2018 (41 cases).
The 107 cases of residential burglaries are the lowest for this quarter in five years.
Theft of vehicles or motorcycles was 50% lower from 22 to 11 cases year on year for the quarter.
This is also the lowest in five years with more than 20 cases being the norm in the same quarter the previous four years.
There were 78 cases of theft out of or from vehicles, the same as in this quarter in 2020.
Commercial crime with 70 cases recorded was the highest for this quarter in five years (ranging from 41 to 65 cases previously).
Shoplifting with 38 cases was the lowest for the quarter in five years (ranging from 42 to 47 cases).
Crime detected as result of police action showed a slight decrease with regards to the possession of illegal firearms or ammunition with four cases. On the positive side there were 68% more drug-related arrests than the previous year with 148 cases.
Pre-lockdowns and curfews the third quarters from 2017 to 2019 saw 70 to 90 cases of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In the last three months of 2021 there were 22 cases and in 2020 only 19.
Johan Badenhorst, chair of Amandel and Surrounds Crime Watch, says they are thankful for the downward trend noticed and hope it will continue.
He highlights effective communication and collaboration between different role players as important in the fight against crime.
“We have fast and accurate communication happening in the Kuils River area on many different platforms.
“There is a lot of assistance from the police, law enforcement, the subforum of the Community Policing Forum (CPF) and our (private) security firms, (in no particular order) Basset North, ADT, C-Max, Forca, SJC, Titanium, SSS (Specialised Security Services), and all the neighbourhood watches that stand together when needed.
“This is a family that takes hands, trust one another, and fight together to make the community a safer environment.
“The numbers (crime statistics) are not lying,” says Badenhorst.
Station commander of Kuils River police, Col. Jayce Naidoo, acknowledges the importance of role players such as armed response companies and the 21 neighbourhood watches in the policing precinct who helps to “keep an eye out for us”.
Naidoo says it is important to look at crime trends and to remember that the police have no influence on certain categories of crime such as arson for example.
“We saw a decrease in house break-ins but an increase in business break-ins.
“The latter he says happens normally at night.”
Naidoo says statistics should be compared within context of the different lockdown levels and regulations experienced.
“When bottle stores were closed assault cases went down.”
The traffic department that usually assists the local police with roadblocks was also needed elsewhere at different lockdown levels, says Naidoo.
With regards to fireams and drugs the community needs to help.
“We are pleading to the community, we want to clean up the area so inform us of where firearms and drugs are stored,” Naidoo says.
