Cape cops’ R12bn drug haul

Western Cape police have seized drugs valued at almost R12 billion since April 2010, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

This was the sombre revelation by Western Cape police commissioner Arno Lamoer during briefings by all provincial commissioners on crime statistics at Parliament on Wednesday.

Lamoer told the police committee the drugs trade was contributing hugely to crime figures and that the Western Cape was seen as the province that used drugs the most.

“Addicts steal to feed their habit. The province is also a huge destination for people. Eight million came through the airport between January and December last year.

“Every single day we confiscate drugs,” he said, adding that drugs worth more than R50m had been confiscated from buses in one week in January when drug routes into the province were blocked.

“The violent crime and the gangsterism in the Western Cape are all linked to one thing – drugs. If we can stop the drugs, crime will come down radically, and people will be safe.”

Community Safety MEC Dan Plato said on Thursday: “Looking at that R12bn just shows you that there’s an awful lot of drugs available. That is why Cape Town is the drug capital of South Africa. We are far, far ahead of other cities in terms of drug crime stats. We’re making a grave mistake by underestimating the drug problem in this city, because it’s bigger than anyone thinks.”

He said the drug trade considered Cape Town “a very lucrative place to do business”.

The wide range of anti-drug measures needed constant hard work and vigilance, he said.

“We need to continue to hit the drug cartels very hard. We can do much, much better. But we’ve had a recent glimpse into the underworld and at least we know they are now scared.”

On the drug statistics, Professor Bronwyn Myers, specialist scientist at the Medical Research Council, said: “The police need to be congratulated. But we’re still seeing high demand for treatment, as well as high levels of unmet treatment need in various communities, which suggests there are still lots of drugs being circulated.”

The prevalent drug was tik, but heroin use was rising. This was mixed with dagga to form “unga”.

Myers said drug abuse in the Western Cape “cuts across all communities, all demographics”.

The committee also heard from a number of provincial commissioners that the ever-increasing influx of foreigners into SA and the resulting increase in informal settlement populations were contributing greatly to the country’s crime rate.

The mushrooming of informal businesses – many opened by foreigners – and an absence of municipal by-laws to regulate them were problems cited by most provinces in tackling crime.

The Western Cape recorded a 1.6 percent increase in murders, from 2 274 between April 2009 and March 2010, to 2 311 between April 2010 and March last year.

For the same period, attempted murders rose by 26.7 percent, from 1 707 to 2 162.

Sexual offences dropped by 3.9 percent, from 9 678 to 9 299.

Robbery with aggravating circumstances decreased by 2.3 percent and carjacking by 20.5 percent, while truck-jacking rose by 21.7 percent. House robbery was up 4.1 percent and business robbery increased by 23.7 percent.

According to statistics supplied by Gauteng police commissioner Mzwandile Petros, murders in the province went from 3 444 between April 2009 and March 2010, to 3 257 between April 2010 to March last year. Attempted murder dropped from 4 800 to 4 104. Sexual crimes decreased from 15 645 to 13 987.

In the same period, commercial crime rose from 34 095 to 34 756 recorded incidents and robbery with aggravating circumstances was down from 47 289 to 40 052.

Carjackings dropped from 7 444 to 5 936, while truck-jackings went from 860 to 600. Residential robberies also decreased, from 8 051 to 7 039.

Bank robberies were more than halved in that period, cash-in-transit heists were more or less unchanged, while ATM bombings shot up from 103 to 229.

In KwaZulu-Natal, murders dropped from 4 224 to 3 749 (11 percent) and attempted murder from 4 614 to 3 915 (15 percent).

Sexual offences were also down, from 13 269 to 12 793 (3.6 percent).

Assault with grievous bodily harm decreased from 30 884 to 30 582 and common assault from 32 980 to 32 271. There was a substantial drop in carjackings, from 3 715 to 2 619 (29.5 percent), while residential robberies were down by 12.7. Residential burglaries declined from 40 393 to 39 550, and non-residential robberies dipped from 11 314 to 10 984.

Committee chairman Sindi Chikunga said there was a need for more focus on stock theft – which remained a problem affecting rich and poor, but particularly the poor, who used stock as their “bank” – as well as sector policing and detective services.

She called on the commissioners to have “no mercy” on members of the police involved in crime.

“Huge resources are pumped into the SAPS. It must enable police officers to do their jobs. As a portfolio committee we expect results,” she said. – Political Bureau