Burglary and assault lead Ndlambe crime stats for the first quarter of 2022

Burglary, theft and assault top the list of crimes reported in the Ndlambe region during the April to June period this year.

PARTNERS AGAINST CRIME: Multi Security have again teamed up with the South African Police Service to patrol Port Alfred crime hotspots today (Friday) in the ongoing ‘Take Back Our Town’ campaign. The teams were out as early as 3am targeting the area around Port Alfred Hospital, followed by the tennis club and other areas. Picture: Supplied

Crime statistics for the Eastern Cape were released recently and Talk of the Town looked at the figures reported by police stations serving Ndlambe (Alexandria, Kenton, Port Alfred, Bathurst) as well as Makhanda (Joza and Grahamstown).

In all of these areas, the standout crimes are burglary, theft and assault. Makhanda, with its much bigger population, recorded higher numbers of serious crimes including murder, rape and sexual assault – particularly when the figures for its two police stations are combined.

If you live in Bathurst, having your home burgled is the biggest crime risk with 24 cases opened at the Bathurst Police Station in the last quarter (April to June 2022). Theft in general brings that crime category quite high. Assault GBV and common assault are the next highest category (18 and 16 cases in the first quarter respectively).

Port Alfred, up the road and with a population of 25 859 (StatsSA,2011) – at least four times bigger than Bathurst – reported 58 burglaries at residential premises,. That’s 10 cases fewer reported than in 2021. There were 18 cases of theft from motor vehicles in Port Alfred and 21 other cases of theft.

Under the category ‘Crime detected as a result of police action’ there has been a steady increase in drug related crime since five years ago (April to June 2018) when there were 9. The same period in 2022 brought up 25 drug related crimes in Port Alfred (Bathurst went from 9 to zero over five years).

There were also 10 cases of malicious damage to property in Port Alfred (during the same period in 2018 there were 20).

Port Alfred has two police stations: Port Alfred (in Pascoe Cres) and Nemato (in Shiceka Street).
 
Kenton saw 27 cases of Assault GBH and 14 common assault in this period. Eleven cases of malicious damage to property, 31 burglaries at residential premises and 35 other theft cases make this the highest crime risk in Kenton.

Eleven drug related crimes detected as a result of police action, down from 15 in the same period last year, confirm this remains a problem across the area.

There was a similar pattern in Alexandria – 43 assault cases (GBH and common combined); 10 malicious damage to property; 19 residential burglaries (there were 46 in the same period in 2019); and 10 drug related crimes detected as a result of police action.

Makhanda also has two police stations – Grahamstown (in Beaufort Street) and Joza (in Extension 6). The statistics reflect where a crime was reported and not necessarily where it happened.

Thirteen murders were reported at the two police stations. There were also four attempted murders.

Again, both categories of assault are the most common crime (30 GBH/84 common at Grahamstown and 30/66 at Joza). GBV remains rife with 13 sexual offences reported at each police station bringing Makhanda’s total to 26.

Burglary and theft in Makhanda are high, with 30 burglaries at non-residential premises (Grahamsotwn) and 79 at homes reported (10 and 27 at Joza).

Theft from motor vehicles was 43 and other kinds of theft 97 at Grahamstown, where 45 cases of commercial crime and 21 of shoplifting were opened.

Under drug related crimes, 32 were detected as a result of police action at both stations.

Nemato Police Station

Decreases in all contact crimes with 68% fewer rape cases reported (5 vs 16 cases in April-June 2021) and all property-related crimes. Drug related crimes also decreased by 56%.

Illegal possession of firearms and ammunition went from none in the same period last year to one in April-June 2022.

Robbery at residential premises went up by one count (one case was reported). 

Port Alfred (town) Police Station

Murder and sexual offences decreased and one count of attempted murder reported. Common robbery increased by 50% (two cases were reported in 2021 and three cases were reported in 2022). The number of sexual offences reported decreased. 

In the subcategories of aggravated robbery, there was one count higher reported for robbery at non-residential premises. Contact-related crimes such as malicious damage to property increased by 11% (9 cases reported in Q1 of 2021 and 10 cases in 2022). Burglary at non-residential premises decreased by 63.6% (there were eight cases reported) but the theft of motor vehicle and motorcycle and the theft out of/from motor vehicle were two counts higher. Drug related crimes also increased by 31% (there were six more cases reported than the previous year).

Alexandria Police Station

Alexandria police station recorded one count higher for murder, but other contact crimes such as assault and robbery decreased. Sexual offenses decreased significantly, with rape decreasing by 75% (one case was reported this year in comparison to the four reported last year) and sexual assault by 100% (no sexual assault case reported from April-June 2022 and one case reported in 2021). 

Some subcategories of aggravated robbery decreased: robbery at residential premises decreased by 33% (two cases were reported) and robbery at non-residential premises decreased by 50% (one case was reported). There were no counts of other aggravated robbery cases. 

However, robbery at non-residential premises increased by 66% (five cases were reported in Q1 2022), but all the other property-related crimes decreased. There was a shocking increase of 300% in commercial crimes (from two cases reported in 2021 to eight cases reported in Q1 2022). In the category of crimes detected as a result of police action, drug-related crimes increased by 100% (there were ten cases reported from April to June 2022). 

Bathurst Police Station

For Bathurst police station’s contact crimes, sexual offences increased by 400% (five cases were reported in 2022 while one case was reported in the previous year), robbery with aggravating circumstances increased by 300% (four cases were reported) and common robbery went up by two counts higher. In sexual offences, rape increased by 400% (five cases were reported in the first quarter of the year while one case was reported in the previous year). Robbery at residential premises went up by three counts higher and malicious damage to property also increased by 150% (10 cases were reported). Commercial crimes on the other hand decreased by 75% (one case was reported in comparison to the four cases reported in 2021) and drug-related crimes also decreased by 100% (no cases were reported from April to June 2022).

Kenton Police Station

At Kenton police station, murder went up by two counts higher and assault with the intention to inflict grievous bodily harm went up by 50% (27 cases were reported in the first quarter of 2022 while 18 were reported in the same period in 2021). Common robbery decreased by 100% (no cases were reported this year while two were reported in the previous quarter) and robbery at residential and non-residential premises also decreased by 100% (no cases were reported). In contact-related crimes, burglary at non-residential premises increased by 200% (three cases were report in the first quarter of the year while one was reported in 2021), theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles went up by three counts higher and shoplifting went up by 300% (four cases were reported). Drug-related crimes on the other hand decreased by 26.7% (11 cases were reported as opposed to the 15 reported in the previous year) and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs also decreased by 100% (no cases were reported).

Grahamstown and Joza Police Stations

In Grahamstown, murder increased by 100% (four cases were reported from April to June 2021 while two cases were reported in the first quarter of 2021) and attempted murder went up by four counts higher. This was lower than the cases reported in Joza police station which had an increase of 125% (nine cases were reported) for murder. Although attempted murder, common assault and common robbery decreased in Joza, they increased in Grahamstown. In both police stations, drug-related crimes increased by 33,3% (eight cases were reported for Joza, while 24 cases were reported for Grahamstown). 

Additional reporting by Sue Maclennan