Crime Stats: Margate’s sorry claim to fame
The town has returned a four-digit burglary figure for the past eight consecutive years, with the highest - 1 468 cases - being recorded in 2014/2015.
The gruesome discovery of a body in Oribi Gorge, a double shooting in Oslo Beach and a host of other murders have underlined the disturbing fact that according to the latest crime statistics, KwaZulu-Natal is once again the ‘murder capital’ of the country.
It is also the province with the highest number of murdered women and children.
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The Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, presented the 2017/2018 crime statistics to the Portfolio Committee in Parliament on Tuesday this week, and the murder statistics in particular have shocked the country.
Murder
A staggering 20 336 people were murdered in South Africa over the past year, 57 every day, an increase of 6.9 percent from the 19 016 reported in 2016/2017.
Within the Ugu Cluster, statistics taken from the nine policing areas of Port Edward, Margate, Gamalakhe, Paddock, Izingolweni, Harding, Port Shepstone, Southport and Hibberdene show that last year 190 murders were reported at these police stations.
This year, that number has risen by 30, to 220.
House burglary
Margate tops the log in the province for house burglaries, with 1 101 cases being reported. The town has returned a four-digit burglary figure for the past eight consecutive years, with the highest – 1 468 cases – being recorded in 2014/2015.
One pensioner (70) who lives in Margate and who has himself fallen victim to house robbers, is outraged,
“When will this crime wave stop? I have also been robbed, and to see that Margate is ranked the highest in the province is shocking. What are our officials doing to fix the problem?”
Rape
More than 7 200 cases of rape were reported in KwaZulu-Natal during 2017/2018, with 337 of those reported in the South Coast policing area. Some stations reported a decrease in the number of rape cases.
Incidents of drug-related crime and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs remains a problem in most policing areas.
Illegal possession of firearms and ammunition is also a worry for KwaZulu-Natal. Recovery of weapons in the province increased from 4 000 to 4 418 during the year.
Although overall crime statistics remain high, there has been a decrease some categories within the Ugu cluster:
Port Shepstone
Murder: 2017 = 33, 2018 = 49
Sexual offences: 2017 = 91, 2018 = 75
Attempted murder: 2017 = 42, 2018 = 32
Rape: 2017 = 68, 2018 = 57
Carjacking: 2017 = 11, 2018 = 7
House robbery: 2017 = 24, 2018 = 32
Business robbery: 2017 = 24, 2018 = 41
House burglary: 2017 = 602, 2018 = 602
Theft out of or from motor vehicle: 2017 = 161 , 2018 = 213
Drug related-crime: 2017 = 537, 2018 = 605
Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs: 2017 = 235, 2018 = 283
Margate
Murder: 2017 = 27, 2018 =39
Sexual offences: 2017 = 93, 2018 = 78
Attempted murder: 2017 = 14, 2018 = 14
Rape: 2017 = 76, 2018 = 53
Carjacking: 2017 = 2, 2018 = 4
House robbery: 2017 = 50, 2018 = 38
Business robbery: 2017 = 17, 2018 = 18
House burglary: 2017 = 1 107, 2018 = 1 101
Theft out of or from motor vehicle: 2017 = 184, 2018 =146
Drug related-crime: 2017 = 771, 2018 = 850
Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs: 2017 = 74, 2018 = 132
Major General Sethenya Nxamagele, cluster commander for the Ugu policing cluster, was contacted for comment.
However, as she is awaiting a release of the cluster crime stats from the provincial office, she said she was unable to comment at this time.
Full crime statistics available HERE
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