Gauteng province released its third-quarter crime statistics for the period of October – December 2023.
The Gazette has highlighted areas of interest for local readers.
Bramley Police Station was featured once among the statistics placing 17 in Gauteng in the carjacking, category of trio crime incidents.
Bramley recorded 42 incidents of carjacking in the recent period indicating a decrease of 16% in comparison to last year.
These crimes include carjacking, robbery in residential areas, and robbery at non-residential premises.
Parkview’s Community Policing Forum chairperson Geraldine Connell noted that even though crime is reported at 1163 police stations country-wide, it is commendable that Parkview Police Station did not feature as a high crime station (top 30) in any category of crime.
“Although several categories of crime show an increase over the previous year, it must be remembered that crime reduced substantially during the COVID-19 years, so the prior year comparative numbers are low. What is very encouraging is to see the 10% progress (on page 128) in the categories of crimes detected as a result of Police Action for Detection.”
Connell added that this means that police officers countrywide were doing well with arrests in the categories of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, drunken driving, and drug-related crimes.
The Parkview CPF purchased a breathalyser for Parkview police station towards the end of 2023 and is pleased to see the resulting increase in arrests for drunk driving in the precinct.
The South African Police Services Minister, Bheki Cele highlighted that the police unleashed the safer festive operational plan on October 13, where various policing interventions and strategies were deployed and gave strict instructions to officers to make criminals uncomfortable on the ground.
A highlight of some of the arrests effected during the festive period are as follows:
- 32 229 suspects were arrested for common assault and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm
- 4 882 suspects were arrested for murder and attempted murder
- 4 783 suspects were arrested for sexual offenses related to crimes such as rape and attempted rape
- 6 383 people were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs
- 3 747 suspects were arrested for dealing in drugs while,
- 16 942 suspects were arrested for being in possession of drugs
- 2581 suspects were arrested for being in possession of illegal and prohibited firearms and ammunition
Cele added that the fight against GBVF crimes remained a priority for police, “Sexual offence crimes including, rape sexual assault, and contact sexual offence all registered an overall 1.7% decline during this period.”
He added that rape declined by 1,7 % and six provinces including Gauteng, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Northern Cape, and Western Cape registered a decline in the category.
The minister highlighted that strengthening and revitalising community policing relations remained a top priority in the fight against crime.
“To demonstrate our commitment to strengthen these relations, we have allocated R70 million to ensure the proper functioning of these structures. It is encouraging that 94 % of the CPF budget was spent on resources such as vehicles to ensure maximum cooperation and interaction with the community.”
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