The DA got crime statistics for Khayelitsha township wrong and a lobby group wants a public correction.
In late August the party, which governs Cape Town and Khayelitsha, proclaimed the latter's crime had dropped by 70 percent.
Police statistics indicated crime had in fact dropped by only 24 percent.
The Social Justice Coalition, based in Khayelitsha, said the DA must alert the media of its mistake since the crime statistic was widely circulated in a press release from its shadow minister of police, Dianne Kohler-Barnard.
Yesterday, the SJC said it was not good enough that the DA "apologised unreservedly for the error" in a correction on its website and a private e-mail to one local Cape Town paper only.
Kohler-Barnard said an error in their calculation occurred when the DA forgot to include figures from two new Khayelitsha police stations. The DA compared only three existing police stations, which skewed statistics. Brushing aside the error, Kohler-Barnard said a 24 percent decrease was still "significant and encouraging".
But SJC spokesperson Gavin Silber said the DA "seriously exaggerated progress in an area still plagued by crime".
DA ordered to correct crime stats mistake
The DA got crime statistics for Khayelitsha township wrong and a lobby group wants a public correction.
In late August the party, which governs Cape Town and Khayelitsha, proclaimed the latter's crime had dropped by 70 percent.
Police statistics indicated crime had in fact dropped by only 24 percent.
The Social Justice Coalition, based in Khayelitsha, said the DA must alert the media of its mistake since the crime statistic was widely circulated in a press release from its shadow minister of police, Dianne Kohler-Barnard.
Yesterday, the SJC said it was not good enough that the DA "apologised unreservedly for the error" in a correction on its website and a private e-mail to one local Cape Town paper only.
Kohler-Barnard said an error in their calculation occurred when the DA forgot to include figures from two new Khayelitsha police stations. The DA compared only three existing police stations, which skewed statistics. Brushing aside the error, Kohler-Barnard said a 24 percent decrease was still "significant and encouraging".
But SJC spokesperson Gavin Silber said the DA "seriously exaggerated progress in an area still plagued by crime".
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