The latest crime statistics paint a dismal picture for KwaDukuza with marginal increases in contact crimes, sexual offences and aggravated robbery.
Locally, the KwaDukuza Saps precinct has been ranked among the top 30 worst crime-affected areas in the country in seven crime categories.
This follows the release of the latest crime statistics last Friday by police minister Bheki Cele for the period January to March.
Compared to the same figures for last year, murder cases rose from 19 to 23.
Ranking fifth for attempted sexual offences, KwaDukuza Saps reported an increase from zero to five cases, while sexual assault cases rose from four to 11. Rape cases decreased from 29 to 26.
Assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm (ranked ninth) saw an increase from 138 to 198.
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While efforts had been made to improve residential burglary figures, decreasing from 219 to 190, trio crimes increased from 96 to 115. Trio crimes, for which KwaDukuza Saps ranked seventh in the country, include carjacking, house robbery and business robbery.
Cele said the figures could not be justified and the police needed to do things differently to reduce crime.
Agreeing with Cele, KwaDukuza community policing forum (CPF) chairperson, Dr Mfuneni Zungu, highlighted several problems, which he said plagued KwaDukuza police.
“The crime stats are very worrying,” he said, specifically pointing out claims of bribery of police officers, a lack of manpower to keep up with the growing population and that gangsterism in schools was fast getting out of hand.
“Reporting of rape and gender-based violence is skewed,” Zungu said, claiming that bribery of officers and victims not coming forward meant they only saw the tip of the iceberg.
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He raised claims of bribery with KwaDukuza Saps in the past, he said.
KwaDukuza Saps had not responded at the time of going to print.
Non-profit organisation (NPO) Rise Up Movement founder, Josha Daniel, said he was concerned about the increase in sexual assault and related cases.
“10 818 rape cases were reported nationally. Of these, around 4 000 happened at the victims’ homes,” said Daniel.
His NPO, started in 2003, works to raise awareness and combat issues relating to gender-based violence.
The national rape figure increased by 1 300 cases.
“While it is good to have plans in place, such as task forces, more needs to be done to fight the root cause of the problem,” he said.
The role of the CPF, he said, was to serve as watchdogs over police to ensure cases were handled effectively.
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“CPF members must be screened to ensure they are fit for the task. The same can be said of police officers, who often require more training to ensure they can handle a case right from it being registered through to investigating it.”
Both men agreed that more also needed to be done at school level.
“We cannot simply hand out flyers and expect children to respond. We need to educate the young boys on how to become a better next generation of men,” said Daniel.
Other stations within the iLembe district also saw crime increase.
At Umhlali Saps, contact crimes continue to climb. Murder rose from 14 to 20, sexual offences from 22 to 26 and attempted murder from seven to nine.
Maphumulo Saps reported an increase of attempted murder cases, from two to 11. Murder rose from eight to 10, sexual offences decreased from 13 to eight and residential robbery cases rose from one to eight.
Ndwedwe Saps saw increases in attempted murder cases go from one to six, with improvements across the board, aside of common assault and robbery.
Below is a breakdown of some of the statistics from across the district.
KwaDukuza Saps
Contact crime breakdown:
Murder rose from 19 to 23.
Sexual offences rose from 33 to 42.
Common assault rose from 143 to 191.
Common robbery decreased from 15 to 11.
Aggravated robbery subcategories:
Carjacking rose from 10 to 14.
Residential robbery rose from 58 to 67.
Non-residential robbery rose from 28 to 34.
Property-related crimes:
Non-residential burglary decreased from 49 to 31.
Residential burglary decreased from 219 to 190.
Theft of cars and bikes rose from 22 to 23.
Theft out of, or from, car decreased from 61 to 60.
Umhlali Saps
Contact crimes:
Assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm increased from 53 to 57.
Common assault rose from 28 to 30.
Common robbery rose from two to seven.
Robbery with aggravating circumstances rose from 34 to 47.
Sexual offences:
Rape cases saw a decrease from 22 to 17.
Sexual assault rose from zero to seven.
Attempted sexual offences rose from zero to two.
Aggravated robbery subcategories:
Carjacking remained the same at four cases.
Residential robbery decreased from 14 to 13.
Non-residential robbery remained the same at eight cases.
One case of truck hijacking had been reported.
Property-related crimes:
Non-residential burglary remained at 19.
Residential burglary increased from 44 to 61.
Theft of cars and bikes decreased from 20 to 15.
Theft out of, or from, car decreased from 13 to nine.
Maphumulo Saps
Contact crime breakdown:
Murder rose from eight to 10.
Sexual offences decreased from 13 to eight.
Common assault reported the same figure, 13.
Common robbery decreased from three to two.
Assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm rose from 21 to 29.
Aggravated robbery subcategories:
Carjacking decreased from two to zero.
Residential robbery rose from one to eight.
Non-residential robbery decreased from three to two.
Property-related crimes:
Non-residential burglary decreased from 16 to 13.
Residential burglary decreased from 28 to 29.
Theft of cars and bikes decreased from two to one.
Theft out of, or from, car remained the same at one.
Ndwedwe Saps
Contact crime breakdown:
Murder decreased from 14 to seven.
Sexual offences decreased from 12 to 10.
Assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm decreased from 46 to 42.
Common assault increased from 12 to 13.
Common robbery increased from five to six.
Sexual offences:
Rape decreased from 12 to eight cases.
Sexual assault had no cases reported.
Attempted sexual offences rose from zero to one.
Aggravated robbery subcategories:
Carjackings rose from four to six cases.
Residential robbery rose from seven to eight.
Non-residential robbery decreased from seven to two.
Property-related crimes:
Non-residential burglary decreased from 24 to 11.
Residential burglary rose from 37 to 42.
Theft of cars and bikes remained at four cases.
Theft out of, or from, car increased from two to three.
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