Hijackings, bank robberies down
2003-09-22 15:42
Donwald Pressly
Cape Town - Hijacking and bank robbery figures
are
down in South Africa, according to the annual report of the South African
Police Service.
However, robbery as a whole - including so-called street robberies which
include residential and business premises robberies - is up 8% in the
financial
year from April 2002 to the end of March 2003 compared to the previous
financial year.
Robbery is up from 464 cases per 100 00 people in 2001/02 to 502.6 in
2002/03 - an increase of 8%.
National Commissioner Jackie Selebi noted that there was a 20% drop in
hijackings while bank robberies and cash-in-transit heists dropped by 15.4%
in
2002/03 compared to the previous financial year.
The commissioner noted that these high profile aggravated robberies -
"which enjoy media focus on a daily basis" - were at their lowest level
since
first being recorded ruing the 1996/97 financial year. A breakdown of the
figures were not provided.
- I-Net Bridge (Business)