Crime still haunts Gqeberha despite marginal improvements in policing

The Weekend View

A month ago Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor, Gary van Niekerk made a public pledge here on SAfm's Sunday Morning Discussion to put in place measures that would significantly reduce criminality. Speaking to the The Weekend View Van Niekerk said by TODAY - the 6th of October - he would have report back on what had been done to effectively combat crime. This came at theh back of a Mexican Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice report which published its annual ranking of the 50 most violent cities in the world. The report ranked Nelson Mandela Bay (Gqeberha) as the most dangerous city in South Africa, leaping past Cape Town and Durban. The quarterly SAPS crime statistics released last month by National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola revealed that Mthatha and Gqeberha had also been identified as problem areas for extortion-related rackets. Last week's gruesome Lusikisiki murders also confirmed the Eastern Cape as the country's murder capital. Speaking with my colleague Udo Carelse, Mayor Gary Van Nieklerk, Pamela Mabini, a community activist based in Gqeberha and Prof Kholofelo Rakubu, Safety and Security Management Head of Department at the Tshwane University of Technology all agreed that a collective effort was needed to comabt crime. Here is what they said last month when they spoke with Udo