BULAWAYO police have warned of a potential spike in crime rate this festive season citing a significant increase in armed robbery cases in October compared to the same period last year.
Provincial police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said this during a business luncheon organised by Peace Security in Bulawayo on Wednesday.
“Last year in October, we had only two armed robbery cases, and this year, we have received 13 cases in only one month,” Ncube said.
“If we are talking of armed robbery, we are talking of where a firearm is involved.
“We do not define a robbery where a machete, knife or a knobkerrie is used as an armed robbery.”
Ncube said more than 10 cases of armed robberies recorded in October targeted service stations.
He said police recorded 80 cases of robbery involving machetes, up from 56 last year.
In October this year, thieves brandishing AK-47 assault rifles hit Bulawayo’s Ecobank branch in broad daylight and made off with US$4 million, the biggest heist in the country’s history.
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The bank heist was captured on camera.
The Safeguard van had just picked up the cash in metal boxes from the Ecobank branch at the NRZ Building at the corner of Fife Street and 9th Avenue when men armed with AK47s quickly surrounded the truck and subdued the guards.
They also took some rifles from the security guards.
“I compared the statistics for criminal activities in October 2023 and October 2024 and what I noticed is that criminal behaviour is not likely to change,” Ncube said.
“Last year in the same period, we had 242 assault cases and this time around, we had 287. This means people have increased their fights. Rape involving adults last year, we had 14 in October and this year we have 13.”
He said police recorded 14 juvenile rape cases in October this year compared to 12 during the same month in 2023.
He highlighted that some of these minors were as young as four years.
