THIS year’s annual police crime statistics have raised suspicion as a comparison with last year’s figures, for Pinetown in particular, reveal some puzzling numbers.
The latest statistics released by the South African Police Services (SAPS) claim that crime in Pinetown has decreased dramatically.
“Having printed out and investigated the police crime statistics for 2014 for Westville and Pinetown areas as per their website, it is my contention, and that of the Democratic Alliance, that the annual statistics submitted to the public are of no value whatsoever as they are totally incorrect,” said local councillor, Bruce Sutcliffe.
“I cannot believe that the senior police personnel in Pretoria would allow such complete nonsense to be released without doing some sort of background or exception checking prior to its release. It appears that there will be a press conference later in the week to attempt to apologise for the error,” he said.
“It is also my belief that these statistics should also detail the nationality of the person accused to enable the public to understand how much imported crime there is. I can only hope that the SAPS and the minister do a proper check on the new statistics prior to release as this incompetence cannot be accepted,” Sutcliffe said.
According to the Pinetown statistics, there were only three hijackings in the last year, compared to last year’s 234. Another alarming statistic was a 1135 drop in theft out of, or from vehicles. Last year’s figure was 1142.
Robbery with aggravating circumstances also saw a huge drop from the previous year. In 2012/2013 there were 1018 cases reported, compared to 20 cases reported this year.
Only six residential robberies were reported in Pinetown, and three non-residential robberies, compared to 155 and 123 respectively in the previous year.
Business and residential burglaries, according to the statistics, dropped by 1311 and 695 respectively since last year. The 2012/2013 statistics reported that there were 1375 business burglaries (2013/2014: 64) and 715 residential burglaries (2013/2014: 20).
Sutcliffe also questioned the common assault statistics for Pinetown. In 2012/2013, the SAPS reported that there were 504 cases of common assault opened at Pinetown SAPS. But in 2013/2014, the statistics claimed that only 53 cases were reported to the station.
Not only Pinetown’s crime statistics proved puzzling, but Westville’s as well.
In Westville, a largely residential and retail area, with little to no areas for farming, the crime statistics revealed that there were 192 stock theft cases reported in the last year. In the previous year there were no cases of stock theft reported.
Sutcliffe said the shoplifting statistics in this area were also puzzling, as the area has a number of major shopping centres. Only one case of shop lifting was reported this year, compared to 524 last year.
As there are problems with the statistics for Pinetown and Westville, it can be presumed that the rest of the stats are tainted. Therefore the Highway Mail will not publish the crime statistics until their accuracy has been checked and confirmed by the SAPS.
