Crime In South Africa

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In South Africa, 17,068 people were murdered in the 2013/14 year, an increase from 16,259 murders committed in the 2012/13 year. The average number of daily murders in the country stands at 47. The country’s murder rate is more than five times higher than the global average in 2013 which was 6 murdersfor every 100,000 people (Africa Check 2014). Like murder, the rates of violent crime, assault and economic crime in South Africa are very high. These statitics hint that South Africa is a nation blighted by high levels of crime. In this country, crime is not a 21st century problem, but a problem inherited from the apartheid regime and that is central to the social life of South Africans (Moller 2005). As Singh (2012) writes in his book Policing…show more content…
In the third quarter of 2012, Grant Thornton SA conducted a study on how crime affected business and reported that 49% of private businesses had been disrupted by crime in a period of 12 months (Grant Thornton 2012). There are many different types of crime that occur in South Africa every day. Employees and business owners are caught up in those crimes leading to disruption of business and other work that contributes to economic growth. Crime also results to loss of productivity and loss of staff, negatively impacting the economy. For example, if a business owner is wounded in a robbery in his or her premises, the business would not only suffer financial loss but also loss of productivity in the days during which the business owner may be recuperating in hospital. Due to crime, some businesses lose very productive employees permanently, negatively affecting business productivity, which in turn negatively affects the…show more content…
South Africa has been grappling with the problem of crime since the apartheid regime. Government efforts to reduce crime consume lots of funds which may be otherwise used to build the economy. Business firms are also tasked with the responsibility of protecting themselves by hiring private security firms, hence high security costs. The high levels of crime in the country discourage both domestic and foreign investors. In addition, crime results to reduced productivity and disruption of business. Fraud and corruption - economic crime in which South Africa is leading - results to financial losses in both the public and the private sectors, hence negatively affecting growth. The crime situation in South Africa mandates an immediate, long-lasting

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