Montclair crime stats on par with the streets

CRIME statistics for the year 2018/ 19 in Montclair were welcomed by the CPF chairman and ward councillor as a true reflection of what happens in the area.

While some crimes remained at the same level, such as the rate of murder is at 10 for the two consecutive years, they both agreed that more police work had to be done to curb crime in the area.

Chairman of the CPF, Aaron Nyadi, said the spike in home burglaries was the result of criminals capitalising on the fact that there were fewer people at home during the day.

“Burglary at non-residential as opposed to those on residential premises increased due to the fact that burglary in this area happens mostly during the day when most of the people are at work. This is when you’d find a domestic worker at home and because there are only about one or two people in the house, they can get intimidated easily by the criminals. And we have realised that they do these robberies armed,” he said.

He was contrasting the differences between robbery at residential premises which is up from 16 to 26 while robbery at non-residential premises is down from by just a point from 36 cases. And similarly, burglary at non-residential premises decreased from 83 to 54 while burglary at residential premises increased from 321 to 456.

Other figures on the stats revealed that attempted murder increased from 12 to 14, common robbery increased from 28 to 42, robbery with aggravating circumstances increased by 50 cases from just 223 in the previous year.

READ ALSO: Bluff senior found dead and decomposed in her home

Nyadi said that while the figures of common crimes had increased, fewer lawbreakers were on the streets or were fined accordingly, all thanks to the proactive work of the police who do random searches. “There have been interventions in cases of driving under the influence of alcohol which has risen, it was actually a result of regular roadblocks by the police where they find people driving while intoxicated and charged accordingly. Having those regular roadblocks has helped to find those offenders,” he said commenting on the increase of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs up from 236 to 256.

Ward 64 councillor, Gavin Hegter, said these statistics for Montclair, as with the rest of the country were totally unacceptable. “The concern is that there does not appear to be any meaningful attempts by SAPS to address this situation. The most concerning is the number of violent crimes or what is referred to as trio crimes. If we compare the released stats to what is currently happening in our area there is no reduction. Last month we had 14 carjackings,” he said.

And in just a year, carjackings increased from 32 to 42 cases, the theft of motor vehicle and motorcycle increased from 120 to 134 while theft out of or from motor vehicle decreased from 228 to 213.

Hegter added that he still awaited a response from the Montclair station commissioner to advise on what steps are being taken to reduce the unacceptable levels of crime.

Rape increased from 10 to 19 cases, sexual assault also went up from seven to 10 and sexual offenses had just one case from previously having none. And drug-related crime is down from 704 to 428.

“The issue of drug-related crime has come down, it is actually due to the decriminalisation of dagga. During that period we saw the cases of drug-related crime come down and the police are now focusing on other areas. We are doing some improvements because in other areas we have street patrollers that are patrolling the area, especially at night, assisting the police. And that has actually helped a lot to bring down the level of crime.

“Plus, we are riving the structures, we have just elected a new subforum for the Montclair and Woodlands area, we believe that with such an intervention with programmes drawn up that they will assist in ensuring that the crime is actually deterred in the area,” Nyadi added.

DID YOU KNOW?
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics.
To receive news links via WhatsApp or Telegram, send an invite to 061 876 3179
The Southlands Sun is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest – why not join us there?

Do you have more information pertaining to this story?
Feel free to let us know by commenting on our facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.

To receive our free newsletter click here

(Comments posted on this issue may be used for publication in the Sun)