Media Release
Thursday 12 September 2019
“The crime statistics should be released monthly or at least quarterly…and the latest figures released by police are outdated.”
Anti-Crime Activist, Yusuf Abramjee, said it was time for the South African Police Service (SAPS) to release the crime stats “more regularly so that communities could plan on how to assist in fighting crime and making their neighbourhoods safer.”
The figures released today were for the period April last year to March this year.
Abramjee, who is also Vice-President of Crime Stoppers International (CSI) said: “Levels of crime in South Africa are exceptionally high.
“While the numbers show a decrease in some categories such as carjackings and CIT Robberies, remember we have nothing to celebrate. The overall figures are still frighteningly high.”
Abramjee said an average of 58 people were murdered in SA every day. “When will the blood stop to flow?,” he asked.
“We have a national crisis. Life has become too cheap in our country.”
Abramjee said it was also “very worrying” to see an increase in sexual offences.
“Some 144 sexual offences and rape cases are reported in SA every day…this amounts to an average of six incidents every hour or one case every 10 minutes.”
Abramjee said he believed many crimes went unreported “because the public have lost confidence in the police. The system often lets them down. Poor investigations and poor service delivery are real problems,” he added.
“While some strides have been made by the police, a lot of work lies ahead. We all need to join hands and fight the crime scourge. Active citizenry needs to be promoted,” he added.
Abramjee said tipoffs resulted in thousands of arrests and millions of rands of seizures.
“We call on the public to continue to blow the whistle on criminals. Break your silence.”
Drug related crimes are down by 28%. “This means police action is not good enough. We all know that drugs are a major problem and police are not doing enough. We need the specialized units to come back,” said Abramjee who also heads up #MakeSASafe
He said robberies were also on the increase. “South Africans live in fear…that’s the sad reality.”
Enquiries:
Yusuf Abramjee cell 082 4414 203