The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) on Friday expressed concern about the marked increase in crimes against business, evident in the 2013/14 crime statistics released by the South African Police Service (SAPS).

Sacci CEO Neren Rau said the 13% increase in robberies at business premises was a clear indication that the SAPS had to urgently improve its coordinated policing at malls, offices and factories around the country.

“Crime is already a significant cost factor to many businesses due to expenses made on security and higher insurance premiums. A single incident of burglary, robbery or highjacking disrupts business operations for several days that, in total, impose a significant cost on the South African economy.”

He stated that the combined 92 215 incidents of robberies and burglaries at business premises during 2013/14 translated into at least R500-million in lost production.

“This figure excludes the repair and replacement costs. Truck hijackings (5% increase) and bank robberies (200% increase) impose an additional cost as the disruption of crucial logistical chains and services often widens out to hundreds of businesses,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sacci was also concerned about the increase in several violent crime categories.

Sacci said it hoped that initiatives like community policing forums and cooperation between business and the SAPS on a task-team level could force a rapid drop in crime.

“Sustainable economic improvement and strong investor confidence is entirely dependent on a safe and crime-free country,” Rau said, noting that South Africa was already ranked fifty-sixth in the world in terms of competitiveness by the World Economic Forum, which meant that there was an urgent need to deal with crimes against business.

South Africa also ranked 133rd in terms of the business cost of crime and violence, ninety-ninth for organised crime and 102nd for the reliability of police services, Rau pointed out.