DONDERDAG, 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 Price: R6.20 | Tel 021 853 0211 | www.districtmail.com | | districtmail.mobi
DistrictMAIL HEARTBEAT OF THE HELDERBERG
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Child abuse
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Getuienis verwerp, SW dagmoeder vry BL. 3
Patch Helderberg sounds the alarm
Navy Train lose out on President’s Cup PG 32
Full crime stats details: PAGES 8, 9
PG 6
THE ANNUAL CRIME REPORT
What the numbers say T he biggest challenge that Helderberg police stations face is a desperate lack of resources.
This was highlighted at a crucial meeting held this past weekend by the Department of Community Safety in the Macassar New Hall to address the policing needs and priorities in the Khayelitsha Cluster, which includes all the Helderberg police stations. The crime statistics released on Friday show a marked increase in drug-related crime and robbery with aggravating circumstances. Drug-related crime across all the police stations of the Helderberg increased from 2 351 in 2012-13 to 2 734 in 2013-14, an increase of 16%. Robbery with aggravating circumstances, which would include car hijackings and armed robberies, among others, increased from 473 in 2012-13 to 566 in 2013-14 – an increase of 20%.
Khayelitsha Cluster Commander Major General Johan Brand said on Saturday that the three most prevalent crimes in the cluster are house burglary, robbery and sexual offences and that the top three causes of crime in the cluster are substance abuse, unemployment and poverty. During a question-and-answer session with the MEC for Community Safety, the Cluster Commander and various station commanders, it emerged that an ever-increasing lack of resources – including phones, computers and vehicles as well as a lack of staff – are severely hindering local police from carrying out their duties effectively. Brand said that a recruitment process is under way to fill current vacancies and that the dire lack of resources will be addressed with management. ) Turn to pages 8 and 9 for detailed statistics on each station’s precinct.