Former DA MP Michael Waters has publicly cited Alberton as having the fourth highest murder rate in the world, with reportedly 122 people being murdered during the 2021/22 financial year.
Waters recently crunched numbers and claims that when one calculates the number of murders per 100 000 inhabitants, Alberton has a murder rate of 86.74.
“When one compares this rate of 86.74 to that of the recently released statistics report of the most dangerous cities in the world by murder rate, Alberton is ranked fourth, just behind Caracas in Venezuela. The figure of 122 murders is across the police stations serving Alberton, therefore, Alberton, Brakendowns and Eden Park police stations,” said Waters.
He said it is hard to believe that Alberton would have such a high murder rate.
According to Waters, nearly four people are murdered each day within Ekurhuleni.
“When one looks at the entire Ekurhuleni metro, a total of 1 385 murders were recorded during the same period with a murder rate of 43.57 per 100 000 inhabitants, making our metro the 40th most dangerous place to live in the world,” he said.
Waters also said the current highly centralised policing is not working.
He echoed that international evidence shows that a devolved, well-trained and resourced police is the best way to combat crime.
‘Statistics are completely inaccurate’
Ward 106 Clr Tim Denny told the Alberton Record that he has done his own investigations to refute Waters’ statistics and allegations.
“Firstly, I met with the Alberton North SAPS station commander and a colonel. They confirmed that Alberton definitely does not have the murder statistics as per Waters’ statement. Secondly, Waters has included Eden Park police station figures in his calculations and this police station does not fall under Alberton North SAPS nor Brackendowns SAPS,” he said.
Denny said the official SAPS crime statistics do not include Alberton police stations in their top 30 for murder.
He said Waters’ statistics are inaccurate and exaggerated and that he needed to present official, verified and documented proof substantiating his allegations.
Ekurhuleni district commissioner Major General Anna Sithole said: “Eden Park SAPS is a station on its own. It does not fall under Alberton. Alberton is a police station on its own. All the 39 police stations in Ekurhuleni fall under my office.”
She said as far as her records indicate, murders are taking place in Eden Park as well as Alberton. However, Sithole said their top contributing station in Ekurhuleni in terms of murders is Ivory Park and Tembisa.
Former MP’s response
Waters reiterated that in his calculation, he included all three Alberton police stations. He also said Alberton is bigger than one police station.
“It is a town within Ekurhuleni and historically the precincts of the three police stations, Alberton, Brackendowns and Eden Park have composed Alberton. I used the last census figures for the population of ‘Greater Alberton’, which is stated as 140 646,” he said.
According to Waters, the murder rate for each of the three police stations for the 2021/22 year is as follows; Alberton (41), Brackendowns (seven) and Eden Park (74). He said this gives a figure of 86.74 per 100 000 inhabitants.
“No matter how the police try and spin the stats, ‘Greater Alberton’ murder rates are unacceptably high. You cannot separate the residents of Alberton by police precinct. They’re residents of one town and thus the murder rate affects them all. The police need to explain what they are doing about the 122 murders and how they intend to reduce this figure,” he explained.
He said they (SAPS) cannot deny that 144 people were murdered during 2021/22.
“Cities, like Alberton, have several police stations covering their area. The police cannot state that Alberton is only covered by one police station. Thembisa will have more murders and that is because their population is considerably bigger than that of Alberton.
“That is why studies around the world use population figures to work out the murder rate per 100 000 residents. And Ivory Park is in Johannesburg, not Ekurhuleni,” Waters said.
