20% more murders in North West
The North West police released the first quarter crime statistics from April to June 2024 for the province on Tuesday and Brits features in the top ten policing areas nationally with the most burglaries.
MEC Mosimanegape Wessels Morweng
MEC for the North West Department of Community Safety and Transport Management Mosimanegape Wessels Morweng said during the presentation that some of the police stations in the North West appear in the Top 30 nationally with the most crimes in various categories. Brits features in the top 10 for burglaries.
“In general, the crime figures in the Province have increased compared to the previous counting period. There is a 5% increase of reported crimes, with one thousand, one hundred and thirteen (1 113) more cases compared to the same reporting period the preceding year. Contact crime has increased by 8.8% whilst murder cases have increased by 20.3%.”
He said that illegal mining in the North West remains a challenge and that in some areas community members are aiding the activities.
“There is a disturbing and growing trend of criminal groupings calling themselves business forums. These are groupings that often disrupt administration at government and municipal offices demanding to be given tenders without following proper procedures. This shall not be tolerated and anyone caught doing this will be dealt with harshly,” he said.
He called on police officers to defend themselves. “As Minister Mchunu emphasised when releasing national crime statistics twelve days ago, we are once more calling on our police officers to defend themselves by all necessary means when confronted by criminals. They must use all means within the law to protect themselves and all law-abiding citizens.
