Impact of Crime on Small Businesses Report 2008 - Gauteng Online

THE IMPACT OF CRIME ON SMALL BUSINESSESbusinesses in each sub-sector (other crimes such as petty theft, vandalism and cartheft accounted for a very small proportion <strong>of</strong> total incidents).Burglaries accounted for 57 percent <strong>of</strong> incidents in townships and informal settlements,while robberies made up 28 percent <strong>of</strong> crimes against businesses in theseareas. Among inner city businesses, burglaries accounted for 32 percent <strong>of</strong> incidentsand robberies for 13 percent, while shoplifting accounted for just below 40percent. In areas <strong>of</strong> high density such as malls burglaries comprised 43 percent <strong>of</strong>incidents, robberies 20 percent and shoplifting 19 percent <strong>of</strong> incidents.According to SAPS figures, between October 2004 and September 2005, 54 percent<strong>of</strong> armed robbery cases occurred in inner cities, and only ten percent <strong>of</strong> businessrobberies took place in townships. However, the SAPS statistics cover businesses<strong>of</strong> all sizes. Bigger businesses are more likely to report crimes to the police,particularly when they wish to make insurance claims, and reporting data is thuslikely to be skewed toward the experience <strong>of</strong> larger firms in the formal sector. Thelarge numbers <strong>of</strong> informal sector enterprises operating in townships and informalsettlements may be less inclined to report incidents <strong>of</strong> crime, even in the case <strong>of</strong>burglary and robbery, as noted in Section 10. It should also be noted that SAPS statistics,which categorise both robberies and burglaries into crimes ‘against businesspremises’ and crimes ‘against residential premises’ may not accurately recordcrimes against businesses when entrepreneurs operate from their homes – as is theChart 22: Types <strong>of</strong> crimes experienced by businesses - bylocation6050% <strong>of</strong> incidents403020100Inner cityTownship/informalsettlementHigh densitysuburbanTotalBurglary Shoplifting Robbery Fraudcase for a significant proportion <strong>of</strong> our sample, particularly in townships and informallocations.35