Table View is ranked third in the province and 13th in the country for the “other serious crimes” category, according to the latest crime statistics recorded for the last three months of 2022.
Other serious crimes include theft, shoplifting and commercial crimes.
Murders in Table View dropped from nine to six cases.
There were 13 rape cases recorded in the precinct, from the beginning of October to the end of December last year, up by three more cases for the same period in 2021.
There were 58 cases of common robbery, up from 30 cases, and 53 robberies with aggravating circumstances, up from 43.
There were 11 “trio crimes”, which include car-jacking, robberies at homes and robberies at non-residential premises, down from 14 in 2021.
Drug-related crimes dropped from 96 to 76 cases.
Table View police did not respond to emailed questions and calls made to the station.
Police Minister Bheki Cele released the stats on Friday February 17.
He said the country had a “serious illegal firearm problem”. However, some perpetrators used a variety of weapons to commit murders.
According to the stats for the country, there were 7 555 murders for the quarter of which 3 144 were committed with guns, and 2 498 were committed with knives, sharp objects or blunt instruments.
Mr Cele said police seized more than 6000 illegal firearms during the quarter.
Milnerton police station ranked sixth in the province and 22nd in the country for the “other serious crimes” category.
Milnerton’s “other serious crimes” went up from 504 to 554.
The precinct also appeared in 17th position among the top-30 stations for murder in the province, with 20 murders, the same as the previous year.
Milnerton’s “burglary at residential premises” cases jumped from 65 to 90.
Some other property-related cases increased, including “theft out of motor vehicle and motorcycle”, with 108 cases, up from 83.
Milnerton recorded an increase in sexual offences with 33, up from 24.
Common robberies were up from 35 to 48 and rapes from 22 to 29.
Milnerton police spokesperson Captain Nopaya Madyibi directed all questions about crime stats to the provincial police.
Melkbosstrand police saw no murder and only one attempted murder on their record for the quarter.
However, “burglary at residential premises” doubled, from 11 to 23 cases, and there were six drug-related crimes, up from three cases.
Bothasig police precinct, which covers Bothasig and Edgemead, recorded one murder and one attempted murder. Common assault shot up from 22 to 32. There was one rape and two sexual assault cases. Drug-related crimes dropped from 45 to 15, and thefts of cars and motorbikes dropped from 27 to 15.
Edgemead Neighbourhood Watch spokesman Mark Richards said patrollers were making a concerted effort to be out during load shedding, which appeared to coincide with an increase in burglaries.
With increased patrols and assistance from Bothasig police, he said, there had been no further reports of smash-and-grabs at the Bosmandsam/N7 off ramp (“Motorists warned of smash- and-grab incidents at Bosmansdam Bridge,” Tabletalk, January 18).
“Unfortunately, with police budget cuts, we don’t foresee crime levels dropping, but we are very fortunate that we are logging unprecedented patrol hours both during the day and night. Despite their limited resources, we still enjoy huge support from police with our patrols,” he said.
Bothasig police did not respond to questions by deadline.
Book review: BTS Icons of Pop