Cape Town Central police station is number one in the country for both robbery and theft out of motor vehicles.
This is according to the latest crime statistics, for the period from April 1 last year to March 31 this year, released by Police Minister Bheki Cele on Friday July 31.
The station recorded an increase of 114 robberies, from 1 070 cases reported for 2018/2019 to 1 184 cases for 2019/2020.
It resumed its top position in the country for theft out of motor vehicles, with 40 more incidents – from 3 710 to 3 750.
It was also listed among the top 30 stations with the highest number of property-related crimes and ranked number five on the list of top 30 stations with the most cases of sexual assault crimes in the country.
Cape Town Central saw an increase in contact crime, from 2 472 to 2 626, with two more murders, from 7 to 9.
Sexual offences increased from 56 to 87, with more sexual assault cases reported – from 21 to 46.
Although Cape Town Central ranked number five in the country for commercial crime, which includes ATM fraud, there was a reduction in incidents, from 1017 to 979.
Cape Town Central had the fourth-highest number of drug-related crimes, even though the number of cases actually dropped from to 2 313 to 2 052 cases.
Cape Town Central police spokesperson Captain Ezra October said they have noticed an increase in general theft including pickpocketing and cellphone grabbing.
He urged the public to remain vigilant and be aware of their surroundings.
He added that theft out of motor vehicles remained an ongoing concern.
He said a decrease in ATM fraud was as a result of increased visibility at ATM machines thanks to partnerships with National Tourism marshals at ATMs, the Cape Town Tourism ambassadors programme in Bo-Kaap, the Department of Community Safety ambassadors and the City’s Cape Town Task Team patrolling all tourism hot spots on bicycle and vehicle patrols.
CPF chairman Marc Truss said common robbery was the main challenge, taking over from theft out of motor vehicle which had been a challenge for the past three years.
Mr Truss said this was not a good reflection on Cape Town.
“In a positive light, we saw an increase in crimes because more people are now coming forward and reporting crime. We also had a lot of false cases where people report cases so they can be able to claim from insurances,” he said.
Touching on the plan to combat crime, Mr Truss said more police visibility was needed.
“We need more officers patrolling the areas on foot. We need people to be able to walk and interact with the police. We can’t just have officers in vehicles driving by people, there’s hardly any interaction there. We need to go back to that and earn the trust of the community,” he said.
Meanwhile, Table Bay’s crime remains low, with no murders or attempted murders reported.
There were 13 incidents of assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, up from eight last year.
One rape was reported, and sexual assault cases remained the same, with 4 incidents reported last year as well as this year.
The most prevalent crimes were theft and shoplifting, with theft increasing from 484 to 536.
Drug-related crime dropped from 16 to 14 cases.
