How KZN police are tackling crime decline and sexual offences

KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has taken a proactive stance in addressing crime in the province. 

Mkhwanazi shared insights into the province’s crime statistics, highlighting successes and areas that demand urgent attention.

Speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday, Mkhwanazi said the new performance targets are informed by how they performed in the previous year, as this performance indicates the areas that need improvement, special attention, and resources needed to achieve positive results.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting attended by commanders and commissioned officers for an accountability session on their performance for the 2024/2025 financial year, and reflecting on shortcomings and how they will remedy the situation.

Mkhwanazi said the majority of the crime in KZN centres around eThekwini and uMgungundlovu districts. 

“So when we look at the performance of the crime trend over the period of 12 months, if you compare the past financial year and the year before, we have seen a decline in terms of crime, overall, that is recorded in these two districts,” Mkhwanazi said.

“Of course, I’m not talking about specific stations but in general, in the district, eThekwini, which is responsible for the biggest volume, we’ve seen a decrease in crime.”

Mkhwanazi also said their efforts in crime fighting are linked to different sectors and communities that have played a role in helping the police. For instance, communities patrol the streets while the private sector avails its resources that help in crime fighting.

He revealed that the province has witnessed a decrease in cases of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, car and truck hijacking, robbery at businesses and residential premises, and common robbery.

“During the previous financial year, police in KwaZulu-Natal arrested a total of 144 019 suspects for various categories of crime. Police operations resulted in the recovery of 3 662 firearms and over 51 000 of ammunition for different calibres of firearms.

“These are positive and encouraging signs that, together with cooperation from community members, we can win the war.”

However, Mkhwanazi said sexual assault cases, including rape, remained a serious cause for concern. 

“The slight percentage increases that we have noted demand amplified strategies from the collective of police and community members.” 

He said common assault and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm cases (assault GBH) have also increased. 

“These crimes are mostly committed when either the victim or the perpetrator or both are under the influence of alcohol,” Mkhwanazi stated. 

“We still have areas where we need to do much more. We recorded two additional cases of cash-in-transit (CIT) robbery than the previous year. That is worrisome because one CIT robbery puts the lives of many people in danger. We still have sleepless nights as we put together plans and strategies to end the scourge of gender-based violence and sexual offences, especially rape. We plan to achieve great things with the limited resources that we have.” 

Elaborating on the issue of limited resources, Mkhwanazi said the province once had about 25 000 police officers, but now the number has decreased to 19 600 functional police officers, responsible for policing 12.4 million residents and the number of documented and undocumented immigrants. 

“In the previous financial year, we lost 893 personnel, and 805 of them were functional police officers, with the other 88 being our support staff,” Mkhwanazi said. 

“Two hundred and twenty police officers left the service through retirement with pension, 240 police officers resigned, 140 took early retirement, 116 passed on, with six of them meeting their untimely death in the line of duty. Out of the six, four were shot and killed by criminals, and two died in road accidents.

“One hundred and six police officers were dismissed for various acts of misconduct ranging from corruption to violation of disciplinary code and bringing the organisation into disrepute.”

thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za