“It is of great concern that Cape Town police stations consistently count under the country’s worst stations when it comes to murder, sexual assault, contact-related and common assault crimes,” said Kaylynn Palm, provincial Action Centre coordinator at Action Society. “Unfortunately, we can see firsthand how the situation worsens daily.”
Out of the top 30 worst-performing stations in the country in terms of murder, eight come from the Western Cape, of which seven are in Cape Town, according to the latest crime statistics. The Mfuleni station has the highest reported murder rate in the country. Just under 90 people were killed in this township between October and December 2022. During the same time, Delft, Nyanga, Harare, Gugulethu, Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha reported a combined 344 murders.
The Mfuleni station is also ranked second worst for contact crimes, fourth worst for common assault, tenth for attempted murder, twelfth for sexual offences, 13th for rape and 14th worst for assault to cause grievous bodily harm.
Mitchells Plain is the worst-performing station regarding common assault, contact-related crimes and sexual assault cases. This station reported 19 cases of sexual assault between October and December 2022. Combined, 11 other Cape Town stations (of the worst 30) reported 128 cases of sexual assault.
Mitchells Plain is also ranked sixth for attempted murder, seventh for contact crimes, tenth for common robbery and features in the top 30 murder precincts.
“We are not surprised by these statistics,” said Palm. “Action Society is overseeing or supporting various GBV cases in the Western Cape. For example, Cleo Diko’s body was found in Mandalay, Mitchells Plain, in January after she went missing in October last year. In addition, a 57-year-old rapist received an eight-year sentence for the rape of an 18-year-old girl from Mitchells Plain in a case that Action Society had been overseeing. We also support a case where a man killed 18-year-old Lekeasha Marthinus by hitting her head with a beer bottle in Mitchells Plain.
“Whatever the government and the Minister of Police think they are doing to fight crime in the Western Cape is not working. In fact, it is getting worse; just look at your own statistics.
“People cannot continue to live in fear like this daily. It is time to implement workable solutions for South Africans to survive this war, such as decentralising powers of the police to provinces and metros, for a start,” she said. “The provincial police management should be replaced with officers with integrity who are competent in their task. We need adequately resourced specialised units to fight organised crime and gangsterism and the courts should work properly.”
Photo credit: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency(ANA)
