Crime in Grahamstown increased during the World Cup and National Arts Festival and was higher than in previous years. Captain Milanda Coetzer of Grahamstown’s Crime Intelligence Unit has warned that ‘contact crimes” were also on the rise.
Crime in Grahamstown increased during the World Cup and National Arts Festival and was higher than in previous years. Captain Milanda Coetzer of Grahamstown’s Crime Intelligence Unit has warned that ‘contact crimes” were also on the rise.
‘Contact crime’ is the catch-all word for incidents such as murder, attempted murder, rape, assault and aggravated robbery. It is this type of crime that, according to Coetzer, is most commonly reported in Grahamstown. Police statistics show that there were 46 contact crime cases reported in July alone.
Statistics suggest that the period during the National Arts Festival is getting more dangerous compared with figures from 2009. This year had higher levels of murder, rape, household or business related crime, robbery, theft, and assaults with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
On average, three murders take place in Grahamstown every month.
Three murders
During the Festival, an unidentified visitor was discovered lying dead in a ditch under a pedestrian bridge in Napier Street.
“There were bloodstains on the road and leading to the ditch where the body was lying,” Coetzer says, and “a lot of blood on the back of his head. The motive for the killing is not yet known.”
During the same period, Bonani Booi was found stabbed to death in B Block of Joza. In Hlalani, police shot and killed a man who attacked them with a knife. In all three cases there have been no arrests.
With 196 cases of assault in May and June, Saturdays and Sundays are usually “the most problematic,” says Coetzer.
There has also been a rise in the number of street muggings over weekends, especially late at night and in the early mornings.
Coetzer was concerned that one in five rape cases are withdrawn within the first week of being reported.
Cases of theft in particular have soared – compared to 2009 there were 23 more cases of theft from cars, seven more stolen vehicles, and eight more general cases of theft.
Computers (especially laptops) and cellphones are popular targets, with 25 computer and 68 cellphone being reported stolen in July. Coetzer speculated that these cases “may in a small measure be linked to insurance fraud”.
Stealing Telkom and Eskom cables is also ongoing as 23 cases of metal theft were reported last month.
