WC sees rise in GBV, arson and commercial crimes

CAPE TOWN - While the Western Cape has seen a slight decrease in the number of murders reported between January and March this year, gender-based violence, commercial crimes, and arson seem to be on the up.

This was highlighted during the release of the provincial crime statistics today.

More than 8,400 domestic-related crimes were reported in the Western Cape between January and March this year.

That's an increase of 236 cases.

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The statistics also show that 76.7% of victims in domestic-related incidents during this period were women.

Provincial Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile said that in the Cape Metro more than 4,800 domestic violence-related cases were reported at police stations.

"So we are going to focus on the stations like Philippi East, small stations like Browns Farm, Samora Machel, Lwandle, Delft, Mfuleni. Those stations are stubborn, so we are going to focus on them, but we are not leaving out all the gang stations."

Some of these increases have been attributed to a shortage of staff and resources.

Patekile said he hoped that the next batch of officers who are expected to be deployed before the end of the year would be able to plug these gaps.

"We are now receiving in December 850, and we are about 1,400 short as we speak. So, we need more members but with what we have with the cooperation agreement that we have embarked on with the City of Cape Town, as well as the provincial government, we have a memorandum of understanding that we signed. We see the working on that level, the cooperation paying dividends."