4th Quarter Crime Stats: KZN is a haven for criminals - not its people
17 May 2021
The release of the fourth quarter crime statistics has shown - yet again - that KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is a safe haven for criminals, rather than the people of the province.
According to the figures, gender-based violence, kidnapping and murder have all increased exponentially, with three of the province’s SAPS stations included in the top 30 SAPS stations countrywide when it comes to murder and attempted murder. The stations are Plessislaer SAPS which recorded a 69.8% increase in murder cases and Inanda and Umlazi SAPS which saw increases of 63% and 117.9% respectively.
Kidnapping figures in the province also show a major increase, with Umlazi reflecting a staggering 1 133% rise, Inanda recording a 33% increase and Durban Central recording a 157% rise. Despite the fact that more people are going missing in KZN, there seems to be no intervention to find the root of the problem. KZN also reflects 14 times in the top 30 stations in the country with the highest number of stock theft cases.
Given the ongoing promises from KZN’s ANC political leadership, the people of our province have every right to expect some relief when it comes to crime – in particular gender-based crime. Yet the province also continues to see an increase in rape and sexual offences. Inanda and Umlazi SAPS in particular continue to reflect poorly, with an increase in cases of 4.5% and 9.2% respectively. This while the number of incidents countrywide continues to rise.
The question is – what is being done to change this? The answer is – virtually nothing.
SAPS remains short-staffed, SAPS vehicles remain in repairs for more than six months at a time, there remains a lack of training of SAPS officers remains unresolved and detectives are under-staffed, under-equipped and completely overloaded.
Then there are the well-documented DNA backlogs which often lead to high arrest rates and low conviction rates while turnaround time to respond to complaints also remains a challenge.
It is clear that criminals are thriving in our province, primarily as a result of poor implementation of anti-crime strategies. That National Police Commissioner, Bheki Cele, can even begin to claim that crime has turned the corner shows just how out of touch he and this ANC-led government are.
The DA will continue to speak out and expose SAPS shortfalls in a bid to force this province’s leadership to do right by the people of this province. We do so on behalf of KZN’s most vulnerable members of society. The safety of women, children, the elderly and LGBTQIA+ community must be prioritised.
Issued by Sharon Hoosen, DA KZN Spokesperson on Community Safety and Liaison, 17 May 2021
