Eastern Cape crime statistics do not add up

The Democratic Alliance Eastern Cape shadow MEC for safety and security‚ Bobby Stevenson‚ said his party believed “that there needs to be an independent audit of crime statistics”‚ as a comparison between the 2013/14 South African Police Service crime statistics published on September 19 last year and the figures published for the same year on Tuesday did not correspond.

“We have found in many instances that there are differences in figures which have been adjusted downwards.

“This raises a huge question mark around the credibility of these statistics.”

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He said examples of differing crime statistics for the Eastern Cape‚ included:

• Murder for 2013/14 -3‚453 as published on September 19 2014 compared to 3‚441 as published on Tuesday (12 less);

• Total sexual offences for 2013/14 — 9‚897 as published on September 19 2014‚ compared to 9‚616 as published on Tuesday (281 less);

• Robbery with aggravating circumstances for 2013/14 — 13‚485 published on September 19 2014‚ compared to 13‚443 as published on Tuesday (42 less); and

• Burglary at residential premises for 2013/14 — 24‚750 as published on September 19 2014‚ compared to 24‚643 as published on Tuesday (107 less).

“The provincial police commissioner needs to brief the legislature so we can understand the differences in the statistics.

“Why have these statistics been manipulated to give the impression of a gentle downward trend in crime?” Stevenson asked.