Grahamstown Police spokesperson captain Mali Govender has urged Grahamstown residents to report crime to the police, instead of just discussing it on social networking sites.
Grahamstown Police spokesperson captain Mali Govender has urged Grahamstown residents to report crime to the police, instead of just discussing it on social networking sites.
This follows a recent frenzy of Facebook and Twitter posts alleging a rise in petty crime in the city.
Recent Facebook posts claimed that thieves dress up in work gear, pretending to be gardeners in order to gain easy access to people's homes.
Once the men were in, the posts claimed, they stole goods, especially garden tools.
There have also been posts about soccer goalposts being stolen from local sports grounds and taken to scrap yards.
However, police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender says the police are not aware of a rise in petty crime.
"As the police we haven't noticed any rise in such crime. The only way we can know that there is actually a rise in a certain type of crime is when people report that crime," Govender said.
She said the police treat every crime seriously.
"There's no such thing as petty crime. Crime is crime and we treat it with the same sense of urgency that we give to every other type of crime," Govender said.
