Staggering EC Crime Figures Shows Bloody Crime Wave Continues

The crime statistics released today show that the bloody wave of violent crime continues to sweep through the Eastern Cape, bringing little hope to residents who continue to live in fear of the criminal element that stalks our communities.

Despite bucking the national trend in murders, with a slight decrease of 2,2% year on year, 3 879 people still lost their lives at the hands of criminals in the province. This is just under 11 people a day, on average, in the Eastern Cape, who are losing their lives through violence!

The province has six stations in the murder top 30, including Mthatha at 6th Bethelsdorp at 12th, New Brighton at 21st, Libode at 26th, Lusikisiki at 28th and Motherwell at 30th. Collectively 709 people were murdered in these policing districts between April 2019 and March 2020.

There was a total of 68,545 contact crimes recorded in the Eastern Cape the last financial year.

That’s roughly eight people affected by a contact crime every hour!

Extremely disconcerting is the increase of children in conflict with the law. The province has 11 stations in the top 30, with a total of 115 children charged for murder between them.

We are losing our moral values and basic humanity. There is no longer respect for human life, with our children now engaging in senseless and brutal crimes.

Stock theft is another area of concern, with 6,800 cases reported. The province has eight of the top ten stations for stock theft in the country.

It is clear that SAPS is under-resourced, under-trained, under-equipped and under-staffed which is why the battle to keep the people of the Eastern Cape safe, is being lost.

We need a collective effort from SAPS, the community, businesses, security companies and the municipalities to rebuild effective community police forums that can take back control of our streets.

The DA will continue to fight for a province that is safe and secure, where children can play in the streets, and not resort to crime themselves.