Crime stats: Robberies, hijackings show serious increase in Mams

The third quarter statistics released by the police minister last Friday reveal that crime detected by police has increased by 23.2% in Mamelodi East and 8.4% in Mamelodi West.

Minister Bheki Cele announced the crime numbers for the country for the third quarter from October to December 2023.

Trio crimes in Mamelodi East remain a serious concern, as car hijackings and robberies at residential and non-residential premises have increased by 26.8%, while these have increased only by 4 accounts in Mamelodi West, compared to the year before.

Car hijackings increased from 43 to 60 cases in Mamelodi East, while robberies at non-residential premises and robberies at residential premises also increased.

In Mamelodi West cases of car hijackings increased from 12 to 19, robberies at non-residential premises increased by 6 cases to 9, while robberies at residential premises increased from 3 to 4 cases.

“The crime statistics that we are releasing this afternoon are crimes detected by our men and women in blue and reported by victims of crime to all our 1 163 police stations between October 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023,” said Cele.

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“It is clear that our efforts to prevent, combat and arrest criminals are proving to be effective.

“It is also quite clear from the number of arrests made that Operation Shanela is making its mark and putting a dent in serious, violent, and organised crime. Since its inception on May 8, 2023, more than 442 000 suspects have been arrested.

“In this period, R800-million worth of drugs were destroyed in Gauteng. These were drugs collected during policing operations across the country.”

He added that the fight against GBVF crimes remains a priority for “our men and women in blue, and that is why we are encouraged to report that all our sexual offences, including rape, sexual assault, and contact sexual offenses, registered an overall 1.7% decline during this period”.

Crimes detected as a result of police action, such as the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, drug-related crimes, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, sexual offences, and other crimes, all registered an increase of 10.8%.

He said these are crimes that are usually not reported to the police but are detected as a result of the deployment of law enforcement personnel and the employment of intelligence.

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