Crime is like the black plague in our region
The price tag of crime cannot be measured in the immediate cost of losses or property damage, but businesses and the national economy bear the brunt of the costs associated with crime and crime prevention.
Whether at work or home, the consequences of the negative psychological impact of exposure to crime must also be considered.
Since the COVID Level 5 Lockdown, authorities have focused on areas not associated with traditional crime in our urban areas.
The idea of the new normal of working “remotely” seems to me to have opened the floodgates for criminal activity. When you try to have a
conversation with officials, you often get the same response, “I work from home and can’t take care of the problem right now,” or the Police Station is closed for COVID.
After a quick review of the most recent South African Police Crime statistics publication compiled from 1,154 Police Stations,
I noticed that Middelburg was mentioned. Further analysis of the data showed that Middelburg was mentioned 12 times as one of the
30 Police Stations most involved with the 17 serious crimes and categories reported by the community. In the past,
Middelburg Police Station has received awards for the best run Police Station.
The Highveld Region of Mpumalanga, Middelburg, Witbank and Vosman Police Stations were mentioned in fourteen of the seventeen categories.
As a business community, we do not live on an island and only do business with ourselves; we trade with our neighbouring towns, we use the N4 and N12 regularly,
and the criminal acts such as the spikes on the highway have a direct impact on the sustainability of our business, the safety of our employees and the cost of securing our trading activities.
A summary of where our regional Police Stations was mentioned and rated out of 30:
| Police Stations rated out of 30 | |||
| Crime | Middelburg | Witbank | Vosman |
| All Theft Not Mentioned Elsewhere | 23 | 10 | |
| Arson | 14 | ||
| Burglary At Non-Residential Premises | 12 | 24 | |
| Burglary At Residential Premises 12 Witbank | 12 | 26 | |
| Carjacking | 15 | ||
| Commercial Crime | 20 | ||
| Common Robbery | 26 | ||
| Community-Reported Serious Crimes | 9 | ||
| Driving Under The Influence Of Alcohol And or Drugs | 20 | ||
| Kidnapping | 15 | ||
| Other Serious Crimes | 14 | ||
| Property Related Crimes | 12 | 10 | |
| Robbery With Aggravating Circumstances | 22 | ||
| Theft Out Of Or From Motor Vehicle | 18 | 13 | |
Middelburg’s business community wants to hear from the Station Commander what the problem is and what needs to be done. We want to work more closely with everyone involved,
and the relationship needs to be rebuilt. There are so many different factors that influence the success of a business, and businesses
cannot reach their full potential if funds have to be used for security purposes instead of capitalizing in areas that would grow their business.
MCCI has invited the Station Commander to attend our Business Middelburg meetings so that we as a collective can address issues that affect our city.
MCCI supports, hosts the Community Police Forum meetings, our members attend, but we as a city need to step forward and turn the
clock back to the early 2000s when our city was a much safer place to live.