MUST READ: Newcastle labelled third most dangerous South African city

Is our town among the most crime-ridden cities in the country?

According to an article published recently by online site, SA Diaries, Newcastle was third of the ‘Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities in South Africa’, topped only by Johannesburg and Pietermaritzburg.

But just how true is this claim?

Preliminary investigations by the Newcastle Advertiser have begun to unravel a tangled web of unverified information and a lack of accountability at the heart of the controversial report.

The article has galvanised the community.

Many have disputed Newcastle’s prominent placement on the list, and even its place on the list at all, while others believe this rating is deserved.

These are the facts:

SA Diaries’ article based its claims on data from database website, Numbeo.

Numbeo was found to be maintained from Serbia, with information collated solely from consumer-based surveys/ questionnaires.

The site requires no log-in or registration to update a town’s rating.

Newcastle has received only six reviews to date, and the latest addition to its alleged crime and safety scores was posted in June 2016.

SA Diaries published its findings in an article on August 29.

This article was shared more than 500 times and received almost 140 comments, further reflecting the divisive nature of the content.

It also attracted interest from many national media houses.

A prominent daily publication was among one to make use of the ‘information’, in an article which has since been removed from its website.

Owner of SA Diaries, known as Gustav TK, was contacted for clarification.

The Newcastle Advertiser emailed him a series of questions, on the reliability of his information, local knowledge and who he contacted for comment.

He did not provide response to any of these.

Instead, he stated crime and safety in South Africa was worse when compared to the rest of the world, and said it something to be worked on.

“First let us not dispute the fact that crime are on the rise in most cities in South Africa.”

Gustav said statistics were based on research of non-official organisations, and claimed he had a representative in all major cities ‘who do not report on hearsay but to what they have witnessed’.

However, he did not confirm the name of his correspondent.

His only response was: “Yes I have a writer who reside in New Castle. A graduate of KwaZulu-Natal University.”

Further questions elicited a response from Gustav, to the effect that he would request his correspondent remove Newcastle from the list.

“But if you think New Castle need to be omitted from that list. I will tell my write who did that stories to omit it. Thanks.”

The article has since been amended, with Nelson Mandela Bay (itself not a city but rather a metro) replacing Newcastle yet still bearing the same crime and safety scores.

Numerous local crime representatives were also asked for their views.

Morne Potgieter, owner of Newcastle 911 and operational manager for a security firm, said he did not ‘believe that nonsense for a moment’.

He added there was no way Newcastle was the third most dangerous city in South Africa.

Potgieter has daily experience in dealing with local crime and related matters, and stated there were many other cities with higher crime rates.

This was echoed by SAPS spokesman, Captain Jabulani Ncube.

He called the report untrue, stating that in terms of crime, Newcastle and the district as a whole were seen as ‘in the green’.

“I totally disagree with the report. Newcastle is nowhere near the top three.”

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