Festive crime: Mapogo reveals nearly 200 incidents

Mapogo A Mathamaga has revealed its official crime statistics which detail the incidents during the festive season as well as January.

According to Operations Manager Mac van Zyl, special patrols were done in the area of Aureus and the CBD during the festive season.

“This was a preventative measure and it paid off. It was clear that very few businesses were troubled over the festive season,” he expressed.

During December there were a total of 105 incidents whereof 58 were commercial and 42 were residential. Furthermore, 55 of these incidents occurred during the day while 45 occurred during the night. Most of the incidents occurred between 00:00 and 06:00 while the least reported crime happened between 18:00 and 00:00.

There were a total of 33 thefts reported: 16 residential burglaries, 11 business burglaries and 16 robberies. The items stolen during the period include cables, steel and solar panels.

However, Van Zyl stated during January it is noticeable that the thieves target palisade fencing. In the Greenhills area, two thefts occurred where a whole fence of 60 to 80m long was stolen. Other items of interest were the solar panels, whether it were the small ones at gates and lights or the bigger panels on the roof.

A total of 91 crime incidents were reported during January of which 55 were commercial and 45 were residential related. 67 crimes were reported during the day time while 33 incidents occurred during the night time. This includes 32 thefts: 11 residential burglaries, 13 business burglaries and 12 robberies. Most of the incidents occurred between 00:00 and 06:00 while the least occurred between 18:00 and 00:00.

“The community must be vigilant and report crimes in their area. This will assist the police and other law enforcement agencies to act fast and be preventive in the area. From the above statistics, it is clear that crime didn’t take a summer holiday. It just moved to a different schedule,” Van Zyl concluded.