Shocking crime stats amplify calls for Patekile to gooi

SHOCKING new crime statistics shows the murder rate is up by nine percent in the Western Cape, reinforcing calls for provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile to be axed.

- BY TRACY-LYNN RUITERS

Following a delay in the release of the last crime start, first quarter data show murders in the province increased from 1 138 last year to 1 148 this year.

By the end of Q2, the Western Cape had already reached 2 308 murders - 51.6 percent of last year's total 4 467 murders, with half the financial year still remaining.

Some precincts have seen extreme surges. Mfuleni recorded 156 murders across Q1 and Q2 - already 61.4 percent of its entire annual total last year. Delft, Kraaifontein and several Cape Flats communities continue to experience weekly mass shootings, leaving families and neighbourhoods traumatised.

Alarming