By SIPHE MACANDA
Buffalo City has the second highest number of sexual offences compared to other metros, according to a report that paints a dark picture of safety levels in major cities.
The report – The State of Urban Safety – was produced by the South African Cities Network and launched on Wednesday night at an event in Ethekwini.
It explains that the number of offences could be far higher as the statistics are based only on cases reported to the police.
“Reporting factors can influence whether or not crimes appear in official statistics, especially for sexual offences. Cultural, psychological, institutional and practical barriers affect the reporting of sexual offences.
“As a result, it is difficult to determine if a change in the sexual offences rate represents a real difference in the number of sexual offences,” the report reads.
A researcher with the Centre of Criminology at UCT, Anine Kriegler, agreed yesterday, saying that official police figures are widely understood to be a poor reflection of the real extent of sexual offences.
“Sexual crimes are not well captured in non-specialised victim surveys for many reasons, including that they tend to happen in the household environment, which may often contain the perpetrator of the crime. “Interpreting the official figures for these crimes is very difficult,” Kriegler said.
Analysis of the data indicates that throughout the 10 years recorded sexual offences in Buffalo City, Nelson Mandela Bay, Mangaung and Cape Town were above the national rate.
“Since 2012-13, all nine municipalities have seen a moderate decline in the recorded rate of sexual offences,” the report further reads.
Kriegler said Buffalo City ranked in the top three for murder, sexual offences, assault to cause grievous bodily harm, malicious damage to property and residential burglary – and NMB is in a similar position. “Violent crimes are likely largely due to ... poverty, inequality and unemployment, which tend to be the strongest drivers of such crime,” she said.
The report raises a concern that a decline in reported sexual offences may sometimes be a “worrying sign” of declining trust in the police.
According to the data from April 2010 to March 2011 BCM saw a spike in the number of these offences, almost taking the first spot amongst other cities that recorded high rates of sexual offences in the country.
Mangaung tops the list, with Nelson Mandela Bay coming third and Tshwane at the bottom of the list.
The report also paints a bleak picture of BCM when it comes to murder.
The metro ranks number four on the recorded murder rate per 100000 in 2014-15.
The most recent South African Police Service stats show that the national murder rate is about 33 murders per 100000 people.
However looking at individual municipalities, a totally different picture surfaces.
While the BCM area is fourth with 42 murders per 100000, Nelson Mandela Bay ranks second at 48.
Cape Town tops the list with a chilling 65 murders per 100000 people.
The cities of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane recorded the lowest murder rates in 2014-15 – below the national average.
“By repeating this task for other crime categories, what emerges is not simply that some municipalities have more crime than others, but rather their recorded crime patterns are different, with some crimes more common/rare from one municipality to another,” the report explains. — siphem@dispatch.co.za
Chilling sexual crime rate in BCM – report
Buffalo City has the second highest number of sexual offences compared to other metros, according to a report that paints a dark picture of safety levels in major cities.
The report – The State of Urban Safety – was produced by the South African Cities Network and launched on Wednesday night at an event in Ethekwini.
It explains that the number of offences could be far higher as the statistics are based only on cases reported to the police.
“Reporting factors can influence whether or not crimes appear in official statistics, especially for sexual offences. Cultural, psychological, institutional and practical barriers affect the reporting of sexual offences.
“As a result, it is difficult to determine if a change in the sexual offences rate represents a real difference in the number of sexual offences,” the report reads.
A researcher with the Centre of Criminology at UCT, Anine Kriegler, agreed yesterday, saying that official police figures are widely understood to be a poor reflection of the real extent of sexual offences.
“Sexual crimes are not well captured in non-specialised victim surveys for many reasons, including that they tend to happen in the household environment, which may often contain the perpetrator of the crime. “Interpreting the official figures for these crimes is very difficult,” Kriegler said.
Analysis of the data indicates that throughout the 10 years recorded sexual offences in Buffalo City, Nelson Mandela Bay, Mangaung and Cape Town were above the national rate.
“Since 2012-13, all nine municipalities have seen a moderate decline in the recorded rate of sexual offences,” the report further reads.
Kriegler said Buffalo City ranked in the top three for murder, sexual offences, assault to cause grievous bodily harm, malicious damage to property and residential burglary – and NMB is in a similar position. “Violent crimes are likely largely due to ... poverty, inequality and unemployment, which tend to be the strongest drivers of such crime,” she said.
The report raises a concern that a decline in reported sexual offences may sometimes be a “worrying sign” of declining trust in the police.
According to the data from April 2010 to March 2011 BCM saw a spike in the number of these offences, almost taking the first spot amongst other cities that recorded high rates of sexual offences in the country.
Mangaung tops the list, with Nelson Mandela Bay coming third and Tshwane at the bottom of the list.
The report also paints a bleak picture of BCM when it comes to murder.
The metro ranks number four on the recorded murder rate per 100000 in 2014-15.
The most recent South African Police Service stats show that the national murder rate is about 33 murders per 100000 people.
However looking at individual municipalities, a totally different picture surfaces.
While the BCM area is fourth with 42 murders per 100000, Nelson Mandela Bay ranks second at 48.
Cape Town tops the list with a chilling 65 murders per 100000 people.
The cities of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane recorded the lowest murder rates in 2014-15 – below the national average.
“By repeating this task for other crime categories, what emerges is not simply that some municipalities have more crime than others, but rather their recorded crime patterns are different, with some crimes more common/rare from one municipality to another,” the report explains. — siphem@dispatch.co.za
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos