Pretoria Central stats highlight decrease in crimes

Pretoria Central police have seen a sharp 26.4% decrease in contact crimes in the third quarter, with 152 fewer contact crimes reported than the previous quarter.

This was announced during Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s release of the third quarter crime statistics at the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) offices on February 21.

Mchunu was pleased overall by the notable national decreases in crimes such as in murder cases (9.8% decrease), rape cases (3.3% decrease) and attempted sexual offences (3.2% decrease).

While he acknowledges his officers for their work, the minister still insists that plenty more crimes continue to plague South African communities, thus more work needs to be done to combat them.

“As the Ministry of Police, we remain resolute in our commitment to upholding the constitutional promise of safety and security for all. These crime statistics reflect progress, but they also highlight areas requiring urgent intervention. We assure South Africans that we are hard at work to address these challenges, and we will not relent in our efforts to build a safer, more secure nation,” Mchunu said.

Here is a look at how police in the CBD of the capital performed from October 1 to 31 December, 2024:

Pretoria Central Police Station

The biggest contributor to the Central station’s drop in contact crimes was the 42.9% drop in common robberies (147 cases down to 84).

Robbery with aggravating circumstances closely followed by 42.7% (157 cases down to 90) and common assault decreased by 14.1% (128 down to 110).

Five fewer murder cases were reported in the third quarter, compared to the seven reported in the previous and one fewer sexual offences (27 down to 26) and attempted murder (7 down to 6) cases were also recorded.

Assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) was the only contact crime to increase this quarter by 2.9% (102 up to 105).

Rape cases decreased by six counts (24 down to 18) and sexual assault cases increased by three counts (3 up to 6).

Attempted sexual offences and contact sexual offences both registered a single case from none in the previous two quarters.

Carjackings decreased by four counts (17 to 13) and robbery at residential premises decreased by two (2 to 0).

Robbery at non-residential premises increased by three cases compared to the seven reported last quarter.

No bank robberies or cash-in-transit heists were recorded for the past five quarters and a single truck hijacking was reported compared to none in the past two quarters.

No arson cases have been reported in the past two quarters and malicious damage to property saw a 3.1% decrease (64 to 62).

Property-related crimes also saw a sharp decrease of 32.0% this quarter with theft out of or from motor vehicles decreasing by 35.6% (298 – 192).

Burglary at non-residential premises decreased by 16.4% (61 – 51) and burglary at residential premises decreased by 11 counts (19 – 8).

Theft of motor vehicle and motorcycle cases decreased by eight counts (44 – 36) and no stock theft has been reported for the past five quarters.

Community-reported crimes saw a decrease of 22.2%, with shoplifting cases dropping by 34.9% (169 – 110) and other serious crimes dropping by 13.8% (643 – 554).

All theft not mentioned elsewhere decreased by 17.1% (316 – 262) and commercial crimes increased by 17.1% (316 – 262).

Kidnapping cases decreased by three counts after 13 cases were reported last quarter.

Crimes detected as a result of police action increased by 24.5%, with driving under the influence (DUI) cases increasing by 56.9% (51 – 80) and drug-related crimes increasing by 14.2% (141 – 161).

Illegal possession of firearms and ammunition cases detected decreased by a single count (8 – 7), while a single sexual offence detected as a result of police action was recorded this quarter compared to none in the previous four.

Sunnyside Police Station

Unlike Pretoria Central, Sunnyside Police Station recorded a 1.4% increase in contact crimes this third quarter, the bulk of which came from sexual offences, which saw an increase of 28 counts (14 – 42).

Attempted murders increased by six counts (3 – 9) and assault with intent to cause GBH increased by eight counts (32 – 40).

Common assault and common robbery increased by 8.0% (150 – 162) and 8.8% (91 – 99) respectively.

Murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances were the only crimes which recorded decreases this quarter at two counts (4 – 2) and 26.4% (201 – 148).

No attempted sexual offences or contact sexual offences have been recorded for the past four quarters, though reported rape cases have seen a sharp increase of 20 counts (11 – 31).

Sexual assault cases have also increased by eight counts (3 – 11).

Carjackings have decreased by 12 counts (33 – 21) and robbery at residential premises decreased by 11 counts (14 – 3).

Nine robberies at non-residential premises were reported compared to 10 last quarter.

No trio crimes (bank robberies, CIT heists and truck hijackings) have been reported in the past three quarters.

No arson cases have been reported in the past five quarters, malicious damage to property cases decreased by 8.8% (68 – 62) and 21 kidnapping cases were reported in the quarter and the previous.

Property-related crimes decreased by 16.3% as burglary at residential premises decreased by 17 counts (45 – 28) and burglary at non-residential premises decreased by seven counts (21 – 14).

Theft of motor vehicle and motorcycle cases decreased by 1.6% (63 – 62) and theft out of or from motor vehicle cases reported decreased by 14.4% (202 – 173) and no stock theft has been reported in the past five quarters.

Commercial crimes decreased by 19.3% (145 – 173) and 37 shoplifting cases were reported in this quarter and the previous.

All theft not mentioned elsewhere decreased by 16.9% (287 – 247) and other serious crimes decreased by 2.6% (469 – 457).

Crimes detected as a result of police action increased by 37.6% as 68.8% more DUIs were detected (93 – 157). Detected drug-related crimes increased by 26.6% (15 – 195).

Detected cases of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition increased by two (3 – 5) and detected sexual offences decreased by eight counts (13 – 5).

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to bennittb@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok.