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#CrimeStats: Overall crime & car theft decreasing, but car hijacking on the rise

Minister of Police, Fikile Mbalula announced the annual crime stats today, revealing that overall crime is on a slight decrease, including the theft of cars, but car hijacking remains a point of concern as it is still on the rise.

The annual crime stats are released using records collected from all police stations across the country. So, while these stats are used to gauge the numbers on crime in the country, they’re only a representation of what is reported to the police, excluding incidents that aren’t reported.

In the financial year under review, 2016/2017, approximately 2.1 million serious crime counts were recorded, of which 1 738 980 were community-reported serious crimes. The is a decrease of 1.8% compared to the 2015/2016 financial year.

Fewer stolen cars

In the last decade, theft of motor vehicles and motor cycles was at its highest in the 2007/8 financial year, when 79 970 cars and cycles were reported stolen.

The numbers have gradually decreased over the year, in 2015/16, that number was 53 809 and in 2016/17 it was 53 307, a decrease of 0.9% between 2016 and 2017.

Gauteng showed the highest rate incidents of stolen cars and cycles, at 27 674, and increase of 3.9% from 2016. Northern Cape showed the lowest rate. These rate can of course be attributed to Gauteng being the most populous province in the country and Northern Cape being the least populous.

Car hijacking on a sharp rise

On the other hand, car hijacking saw a sharp rise between 2015/16 and 2016/17.

16 717 cars and cycles were reported stolen in 2017, up from 14 602 in the previous year. This is an increase of 14.5%, the highest rate in the past decade.

“Crime knows no race, no creed, no religion and certainly no social strata,” Mbalula said as he presented the stats in Parliament. “We must ask whether we have accepted to live side by side with violent criminals. Is criminality a South African citizen itself? Our answer must be an emphatic and radical “NO!” – We must deal with crime in a radical and energetic way – our language must be clear and understood.”

Mbalula assured the public that Police are strengthening their capacity, appointing strategic thinkers in police management and stabilizing their Crime Intelligence Division to enable intelligence led crime prevention and policing.

“Yes, we have a 1.8% drop in crime, I do not feel it, and our people do not feel it and they are correct…Crime in general is down but when you zoom into the numbers we have a big problem where violent crime is going up and there is no time to hide this,” he said.

[Image – CC Max Pixel]

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