The Eastern Cape's 2018/19 Crime Statistics were released at the police's Provincial Head Office on Thursday night.
Provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana says they remain concerned that rape and sexual offences showed increases of 7.1% and 10.6% respectively, while attempted sexual offences increased by 22% between 1 April 2018 to 30 March this year.
He says this is worrisome, especially that they still receive reports of young girls and older women being raped.
Kikana says another concern is the 4.6% increase in contact crimes, with all categories showing increases.
Following the presentation of the crime statistics, Eastern Cape Transport, Safety and Liaison MEC, Weziwe Tikana said it was fair to say that it did not make for good reading.
She said it was reflective of some of the challenges that continued to grip the country and the province around the issue of Gender-Based Violence, with mostly women on the receiving end of the scourge.
Property related crimes decreased by 0.7%, however, home robberies, which is the most feared crime by most, increased by 0.2%.
