Business pleased with drop in crime

Johannesburg - Business Against Crime SA (Bacsa) has welcomed an overall reduction in crime, reflected by national crime statistics released on Thursday.

It said a 5% drop in serious crime continued the downward trend evident in the previous year.

"This year-on-year reduction is the consequence of systematic improvements in the criminal justice system and improved policing," Bacsa CEO Graham Wright said in a statement.

Another factor was the impact of the government's partnerships with both civil society and business. Bacsa welcomed the lower levels of serious and violent crime, especially the 6.9% reduction in "contact crime".

Acknowledging that much still needed to be done, Bacsa said it was clear the country was moving in the right direction.

Wright congratulated the police and National Prosecuting Authority on their efforts to deal with many of the serious crimes affecting business.

Systematic improvements in visible policing, crime detection and response, and steps by business to improve security, had a direct impact on the level of business robberies and burglaries.

Both of these were significantly down in terms of number of incidents and cash losses, Bacsa said.

"Furthermore, information from the vehicle tracking and recovery companies as well as the short-term insurance industry shows that the business community has experienced a significant reduction in both motor vehicle thefts and hijackings."

Bacsa remained concerned about the continued high level of ATM bombings and cable theft.

"Business robberies targeting cash remain a challenge, with the modus operandi of criminals and targets changing according to levels of vulnerability and opportunity."