Crime stats: Crime rate is a cause for concern

According to crime statistics published on the SAPS website, the Daveyton SAPS recorded an increase in robberies at residential premises and carjacking during the first quarter of the 2022/2023 financial year.

The quarterly crime statistics released by the SAPS cover crimes reported from April 1 to the end of June 2022.

Burglaries at residential premises saw 67 cases, an increase from the 49 cases recorded in the same period in 2021.

Thirty-three cases were reported for car hijacking, which shows an increase from the 23 cases reported the previous term.

Robbery with aggravating circumstances increased from 83 cases to 95. Seventeen cases were recorded for murder, which is an increase from the 15 cases recorded in the same period in 2021.

Meanwhile, Daveyton businesses saw a relief following a decrease from 17 to 10 cases of burglary. Other crimes that saw a slight decrease are shoplifting, rape, attempted murder and common assault.

Etwatwa
The station saw a spike from 63 to 81 cases for drug-related crimes while car hijacking increased from 11 to 17 cases from April 1 to June 2022.

Murder increased from 7 to 11 cases while common robbery increased from 14 to 18 cases. Robbery at residential premises remained at 10 while car hijacking increased from 11 to 17 cases recorded.

Common assault saw a huge decrease of 52 cases compared to the 115 cases that were recorded in the same period in 2021.

Also Read: Letter: Crime stats should shock residents

Other crimes with a slight decrease include assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm (GBH), attempted murder, rape, malicious damage to property and theft out of or from a motor vehicle.

Crystal Park
The station recorded an increase in car hijackings with 15 cases reported from April to June compared to three recorded in the same period last year. Robberies at non-residential areas increased to 11 from the seven recorded last year.

Murder cases increased to six while only two were reported last year. Robberies with aggravating circumstances increased to 43 cases as opposed to 28 in the same period last year.

Common robbery cases increased to seven cases while common assault cases remained at six. There were no cash-in-transit and truck hijacking cases reported during this period and none last year.

Malicious damage to property cases increased by 50% to 24, from last year’s 16.

There was a 17.4% decrease in property-related crimes. While commercial crimes increased to 26 from 13, there was a decrease of 2.7% in all community reported serious crimes.

Actonville
Sexual offences cases increased from four to eleven. Rape saw a significant increase with nine cases reported compared to the two recorded in the same period last year.

Contact crimes grew by 15.5% with 134 reported this period compared to 116 last year.

Attempted murder increased from four cases to nine. Murder grew from eight to ten cases while assault with GBH cases increased from 39 to 45.

Car hijacking cases increased to 11 from six while robbery at residential premises was a 50% decrease.

All property-related crimes decreased by 28%. Commercial crimes increased to 19 cases compared to seven last year.

Benoni
The Benoni SAPS overall recorded a decrease in most categories of crime during the first quarter of the 2022/2023 financial year.

Sharp increases were recorded in cases relating to burglary of non-residential properties that are up 58 to 75.

Malicious property damage increased from 43 to 59 reported cases, while theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles increased from 78 to 90. Contact crimes saw a slight increase.

Also Read: Avoid becoming another crime statistic