Most robberies are inside jobs‚ says Gauteng safety MEC

The majority of armed robberies and burglaries are the result of inside jobs.

This is according to Gauteng community safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane‚ who said on Tuesday that most of these crimes reported in the last financial year had an element of insider knowledge.

Speaking in Johannesburg on the prevalence of retail crime‚ Nkosi-Malobane said workers dealing with cash needed to be profiled.

“[In] 60% of criminal activities that happened‚ either the information is from the workers or they are the ones that committed that particular crime‚” she said.

Anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee agreed with Nkosi-Malobane that organised crimes were at the heart of these business robberies. He called for the release of crime statistics on a regular basis.

“These crime stats come out far too late for me‚” he said‚ referring to the latest figures released by the police ministry last week.

The statistics revealed that businesses were hit by at least 55 armed robberies and 195 burglaries each day across the country.

“Six months down the line is far too late. They need to come out…if possible‚ every quarter‚” said Abramjee.

He said this would allow communities and police to mobilise and hold people to account.

“The more we educate the public‚ the better it will be. We need collaboration‚” he added.

Nkosi-Malobane called for the vetting of private security firms and their employees. She added that investment in technology was needed.

Meanwhile‚ Lieutenant-General Sharon Japhta‚ the divisional commissioner of visible policing‚ declared war on criminals ahead of the festive season.

“We have more resources available for the festive season. We have seen that criminals start shopping very early‚ at the beginning of October. Our festive season plan will start kicking in in three phrases‚” she said.

Cash Connect CEO Richard Phillips also highlighted the importance of investing in technology to fight crime. He indicated that there was a reluctance to invest in technology‚ driven by the perception that it was expensive. Japhta said retail outlets could also play their part in fighting crime. “Sometimes you don’t need money to combat crime. Why don’t you cash up during the day? Why don’t you remove the cash out of the tills? Why not cash up in different times and days?” she asked.