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Pretoria - It is important that industry stakeholders work together to fight commercial crime, according to Helen du Toit, head of audit and forensics at Santam [JSE:SNT].
“We all have a role to play. We encourage businesses and business owners to be aware of their daily risks and to put measures in place to best manage these risks,” said Du Toit.
She was responding to Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa's announcement on Thursday morning of a 0.6% increase in commercial crime for the period April 2012 to March 2013.
The previous financial year – 2011/2012 – saw the only decrease in reported commercial crimes since 2004/2005.
“Year on year statistics show a continued upward trend in the number of commercial crimes reported,” said Du Toit.
“This increase costs the South African economy billions of rands and threatens our ability to grow an inclusive economy.”
Santam has in the year under review reported a total of 101 cases of commercial crime with a total value of R14.7m to the South African Police Service.
Santam’s data for the 2012/2013 period shows a 5% increase in reported vehicle theft claims, a 20% decrease in reported vehicle hijacking claims, an 11% increase in reported business robberies (when there is a direct threat or use of violence) and a 9% decrease in reported business burglaries.
“Economic crime in SA has become very complex,” said Du Toit.
She added that commercial crime, commonly classified as being either opportunistic or organised, is fluid and can take many forms.
“Whether the crime is committed by a person who sees an opportunity and exploits it or by a highly organised syndicate using sophisticated methods, commercial crime has a direct impact on the costs of an insurer and policyholders," she said.
"Corruption, fraud and theft will inevitably have an impact on the cost of claims and acquisition fees.”
Other crime stats revealed by the minister include aggravated robberies increasing by 1.2% from 101 203 in 2011/12 to 105 888, residential burglaries increasing by 3.3%, non-residential burglaries increasing by 1.7% and shoplifting decreased by 3.9%.
- Fin24
“We all have a role to play. We encourage businesses and business owners to be aware of their daily risks and to put measures in place to best manage these risks,” said Du Toit.
She was responding to Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa's announcement on Thursday morning of a 0.6% increase in commercial crime for the period April 2012 to March 2013.
The previous financial year – 2011/2012 – saw the only decrease in reported commercial crimes since 2004/2005.
“Year on year statistics show a continued upward trend in the number of commercial crimes reported,” said Du Toit.
“This increase costs the South African economy billions of rands and threatens our ability to grow an inclusive economy.”
Santam has in the year under review reported a total of 101 cases of commercial crime with a total value of R14.7m to the South African Police Service.
Santam’s data for the 2012/2013 period shows a 5% increase in reported vehicle theft claims, a 20% decrease in reported vehicle hijacking claims, an 11% increase in reported business robberies (when there is a direct threat or use of violence) and a 9% decrease in reported business burglaries.
“Economic crime in SA has become very complex,” said Du Toit.
She added that commercial crime, commonly classified as being either opportunistic or organised, is fluid and can take many forms.
“Whether the crime is committed by a person who sees an opportunity and exploits it or by a highly organised syndicate using sophisticated methods, commercial crime has a direct impact on the costs of an insurer and policyholders," she said.
"Corruption, fraud and theft will inevitably have an impact on the cost of claims and acquisition fees.”
Other crime stats revealed by the minister include aggravated robberies increasing by 1.2% from 101 203 in 2011/12 to 105 888, residential burglaries increasing by 3.3%, non-residential burglaries increasing by 1.7% and shoplifting decreased by 3.9%.
- Fin24
