Crime stats paint bleak picture for Pretoria North

Police minister General Bheki Cele released the third quarter crime statistics for 2023/24 on Friday, February 16.

The statistics reveal crimes reported by South Africa’s 1 163 police stations from October to December 2023, compared to the same period since 2019.

The statistics of stations in the north painted a dismal picture as Akasia station featured among the provincial top 30 for 22 crime categories, while it made the national list for 10 categories.

Sinoville SAPS made the provincial list for six categories, while Pretoria North SAPS made two.

Tshwane district, including all stations in the region, has seen a slight increase of 1.2% in contact crime categories to the highest in five years, with 12 199 incidents reported in the three months.

Kidnappings were of particular concern, showing a steady increase year-on-year to 415 cases in Tshwane district in 2023 compared to 380 the year before and 128 in 2019.

“Kidnappings for ransom have become a lucrative commodity for organised crime in South Africa,” said Cele.

“The SAPS continues in its efforts to identify and arrest groupings linked to kidnappings especially where ransom demands are being made. More than 300 suspects linked to these kidnappings have been arrested in the last two years.”

Trio crimes in Tshwane, which are carjackings, robberies at residential premises and robberies at non-residential premises saw a 4.5% decrease, despite the number of carjacking cases increasing by 23 incidents compared to the same period the year before.

Akasia SAPS made the top 30 in Gauteng for 22 crime categories, including arson, burglary at residential premises, common robbery, crimen injuria, murder, other serious crimes, property-related crimes, rapes, robberies at non-residential premises, sexual offences, theft out of motor vehicles, and all theft not mentioned elsewhere.

The stats show Akasia also made the national top 30 for community-reported crimes, common assault, contact crimes, contact-related crimes, malicious damage to property, robberies at residential premises, robberies with aggravating circumstances, theft of motor vehicles or motorcycles, trio crimes, and truck hijackings.

The station reported crime increasing for many of the categories, with common assault up 48.5%, reaching the highest in five years, common robbery up 26.7%, and contact crimes rising by 14.6% to the highest number in five years.

Despite increases in most categories, theft of motor vehicles or motorcycles, theft out of motor vehicles, and trio crimes decreased by 23.2%, 2.9%, and 6.2% respectively.

Crimes detected as a result of police action at Akasia SAPS doubled compared to a year ago, especially in drug-related crime, which saw an 87.5% increase.

Sinoville SAPS featured in Gauteng’s top 30 list for six crime categories, including crimen injuria with nine incidents, other serious crimes, which had decreased by 8.4% compared to a year ago, and property-related crimes, which increased by 15%.

The station made the national top 30 list for its 19.3% increase in commercial crimes, 32.6% increase in motor vehicle or motorcycle theft, and truck hijackings.

Commercial crimes and theft of motor vehicles or motorcycles in Sinoville had reached the highest levels in five years.

Sinoville reported an 18.3% drop in contact crimes, especially common assault and robbery with aggravating circumstances.

Crimes detected as a result of police action decreased by 17 counts to the lowest levels for the same period across five years.

Kidnapping cases have steadily increased since 2019 when there were 2 cases, to 11 cases at the end of 2023.

Pretoria North SAPS featured in the Gauteng top 30 for theft not included in other categories, but showed a 23.3% decrease in such crimes, reaching its lowest levels across the five years.

The station reported 10 incidents of culpable homicide, putting it in the provincial top 30.

Contact crimes at Pretoria North SAPS increased by 36.4%, especially common assault and assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, which saw increases of 51.7% and 48.6% respectively.

Theft of motor vehicles or motorcycles showed marked decreases on the other hand.

The station had its highest number of crimes detected as a result of police action in three years, especially for drug-related crimes.

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