JOBURG mayor Herman Mashaba is on the warpath.
The no-nonsense mayor is stepping up efforts to curb crime. He announced yesterday that the city would now release crime statistics every month.
Mashaba said this would be done in the hope of national government starting to play its role in fighting crime.
Mashaba and JMPD chief of police David Tembe released the city’s crime statistics for the period January to August at the city’s council chambers yesterday.
Mashaba said crime in Mzansi had risen to alarming levels.
Statistics revealed that 7 283 drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.
The number of reckless and negligent driving arrests also sharply increased to 1 449, compared to just 222 in the same period last year.
Tembe said these numbers were worrying and announced that they’d establish a unit to follow up on drivers who had been arrested for the road crimes.
There was also an increase in the number of arrests made for people offering tjotjo. Thirty-three people were bust for bribing officers compared to 18 during the same period last year.
Arrests for rape went up, with 45 people nabbed compared to just four in the same period last year.
Land invasions in the city also increased, which might account for the increase in the number of arrests for public violence, as 189 people ended up behind bars.
Mashaba added that 561 buildings had been identified as hijacked and that 50 buildings had been returned to their rightful owners.
