Related Articles
Top Stories
May 24 2012 17:31
The Reserve Bank will maintain current interest rates, and a considerable reduction in the local petrol price is anticipated, says governor Gill Marcus.
May 25 2012 13:58
The costs of the first phase of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project have increased significantly to almost R90bn, according to a report.
May 25 2012 11:36
The JSE has identified and stopped "incorrect" trades from one of its members, and will reverse the trades and lower the session's total value after the close.
Johannesburg - A third of people working for medium to large privately held businesses have considered emigrating in the past year.
According to Grant Thornton's 2008 International Business Report (IBR) some 32% of respondents confirmed that they have "seriously considered leaving South Africa permanently".
When asked why, an overwhelming 82% named the high crime rate. No other factor received many mentions.
Businesses polled in the study also reported that 72% of their staff or families of staff have been affected by contact crimes over the past year.
These crimes include road rage, hijackings and housebreakings. This is a drop from the 84% recorded in last year's survey. But the figure is still alarmingly high, Grant Thorton said in a statement.
Gauteng recorded the highest percentage (82%) of businesses whose staff and their families have been victims of crime. KwaZulu-Natal recorded 75%, the Eastern Cape 66% and the Western Cape 62%.
Some 80% of businesses report incurring increased costs for security over the past year. The report also showed that 58% of businesses were affected by decreased motivation and productivity (50%) of staff due to crime. Loss of staff and customers due to crime affected 37% and 23% of respondents respectively. The loss of staff and customers had a more serious impact than the previous year.
The research was conducted amongst 300 privately held businesses that employ between 100 and 400 staff.
Leonard Brehm, national chairperson of Grant Thornton South Africa says, "Grant Thornton's IBR survey clearly shows the link between violent crime and emigration. South Africa remains a country of magnificent opportunity. If we are to realise these opportunities, all those working in South African business must operate in an environment that supports the attraction and retention of the skilled people of whom our country is so short.
"We are encouraged by the increasing public demand for strong and sustained action by government security agencies and by the growth of a culture of community participation in assisting with the detection and control of crime," he added.
- Sapa