Kraaifontein sees spike in burglaries, but murder down - crime stats

Kraaifontein is a hot spot for home burglaries, according to the latest quarterly crime statistics.

Released by Police Minister Bheki Cele on Friday last week, the stats track reported crime from the beginning of July to the end of September, and they point to a 15% increase in home burglaries in Kraaifontein - 202 cases were reported in the three-month period, up from 175 cases for the same period last year.

This came as Kraaifontein police station warned the public about criminals posing as City employees to steal from homes in the Kraaifontein area (“Watch out for phony City staff, warn cops,” November 16).

Two house robberies and five thefts linked to the phony City staff were reported in the past three months in the precinct, say police.

Meanwhile, murder in the precinct is down by 11%, from 54 to 48 cases, and rape dropped 23% from 52 to 40 cases.

Mr Cele said there had been an overall drop in the country’s murder rate.

“A 3.1% decline in murders was noted between May and July, and now there has been a 0.8% drop in the number of people killed between July and September in South Africa.”

Guns had claimed the lives of 3 106 victims, and 10 516 rapes had been reported to the police for the quarter, he said.

“4 726 rape incidents took place at either the home of the rape victim or the home of the perpetrator which are known to the victim, such as a family member, a friend or a neighbour,” he said.