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Police Minister Senzo Mchunu shared some fine news on Monday, revealing a decent drop in murder cases in the Western Cape, offering a bit of relief from the worrying crime trend that makes the Mother City a murder capital.

Between July and September 2024, the province saw an 8.7% decrease in murders, down from 1,164 in 2023 to 1,063 in 2024.

Out of the six provinces that saw a drop in murder rates, the Western Cape came in fourth, trailing behind the Northern Cape, Free State, and KwaZulu-Natal, which recorded bigger reductions, according to the presentation of the latest crime statistics.

Philippi East now has the second-highest murder rate in the country, with 74 people killed, compared to just 28 during the same period last year.

Delft, Nyanga, Mfuleni, and Gugulethu also made it into the national Top 10, but thankfully, the number of killings dropped significantly, declining by a dramatic 15% to 1.8%.

IOL notes that 17 communities reported a 5.1% decline in serious crimes nationally, for the period between July 1 and September 30.

Contact crimes decreased nationally by 3%, property-related crime by 9.9%, and other serious crimes by 3.4%.

Within contact crime, murder decreased by 5.8%, sexual offences by 2.5%, and robbery with aggravating circumstances by 8.8%.

Rape decreased by 3.1%, robbery at residential premises by 1.3%, and robbery at non-residential premises by 21.1%.

However, Anroux Marais, the Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC, cautioned against “unrealistic expectations”.

“We have to keep in mind that this decrease is in comparison with the same period last year, when we saw significant violence associated with the minibus taxi strike. From time to time, the fluctuation in the Western Cape crime statistics creates an outlier, and July to September last year was such an outlier.

“I remain concerned that our crime levels are still unacceptably high.

She adds that “now is not the time for complacency, as the authorities need to “take heart from the decrease in murder to redouble our efforts to further push down crime,” Marais said.

Echoing her sentiment, Premier Alan Winde said crime levels, especially violent offences, remain intolerably high.

“We must do everything we can to maintain this momentum in beating back this scourge.

“This includes building up partnerships across our crime-fighting network, further implementing strategies rooted in data and evidence, and adapting our approach to policing through the Memorandum of Understanding we have entered into with the national government, the SAPS and the City of Cape Town. It is only through a coordinated, collaborative approach that we will be able to make our communities safer,” Winde said.

The minister took care to identify the core crimes shaping our environment, “which are our priorities”.

“First, we face a scourge of violent crimes: murder, attempted murder, assault GBH (Grievous Bodily Harm), and rape. Gender-based violence (GBV), which has become a national priority crime, requires our distinct focus, as it continues to devastate families and communities, with a unique set of challenges that demand specialised intervention, thorough investigations, and collaborative solutions.”

Ilitha Labantu’s spokesperson, Siyabulela Monakali, agreed that the scale of violence against women and children requires urgent action.

“Communities like those on the Cape Flats continue to suffer from systemic neglect, poverty, unemployment, lack of service delivery and yet, resources continue to be disproportionately allocated to more affluent areas.

“The government’s failure to address this imbalance not only perpetuates inequality but allows violence to continue unchecked.”

It is completely unjust that all resources are pooled into the more affluent areas, while the people of South Africa are being raised to the ground in lesser-funded areas.

As Action Society spokesperson, Juanita du Preez, said, it cannot be another year of lip service when real action on the ground is needed right now.

[source:iol]