Crime in South Africa

The country relies on a criminal justice system that is mired in many issues, including inefficiency and corruption.

Out of order police vehicles at some police stations in Gauteng, as of November 2020. Due to the backlog, repair only commences after three months. The police stations in question are the top 5 in terms of reported contact crimes in their precincts.[15]

• In many instances SAPS officers work long hours out of under-resourced police stations, which lack basic office equipment like a photocopier or a fax machine, and in many cases the only landline telephone may be busy.[16] Of 5,781 police vehicles in Gauteng, 1,407 or almost a quarter were out of order in 2020, which negatively affected reaction times and visible policing.[15][17] Three to four detectives rely on a single vehicle, meaning that detectives have to share with a colleague to visit a crime scene. Poor quality infrastructure has also prevented the conversion of paper dockets to an e-docket system.[18] From 2018-2020, funds were insufficient to supply service members with new uniforms.[19]
• Many SAPS officers accept bribes from the criminal underworld, especially when their superiors and seniors are visibly on the take.[16] Officers of various ranks have been implicated in forms of corruption which involves fraud, blackmail, assisting the escape of prisoners, or the irregular awarding of contracts. As of 2020, 286 corruption cases involving 564 police officers are pending.[20][21] Contraventions of the Disaster Management Act, and over R1 billion of allegedly irregular transfers of Covid-19 relief funds have also been tied to SAPS officials.[22] What is seen as a culture of non-liability, has led to very few police personnel being expelled from the service.[19]
• The Criminal Justice Budget was subject to plunder by corrupt police officials at least during the period from 1997-2017.[16][23] The massive inside job involved over 20 persons in the SAPS's top brass,[24] and probes into these activities necessitated the discontinuation of some essential policing services.[25] The SAPS got qualified audits for the years 2016/17 through 2019/20, as audit requirements for purchases, contracts, prevention of irregular expenses and quality of financial statements were not upheld.[19] Irregular expenditure amounted to R33 million in 2017/18, a massive R996 million in 2018/19[18] and R452 million in 2019/20, excluding fruitless and wasteful expenditure[26] and expenses incurred due to civil actions against it, which in 2019/20 amounted to R522 million.[19]
• A 2019 survey by Global Corruption Barometer Africa suggested that the SAPS is seen as the most corrupt institution in the country.[27] In 2020, Andrew Whitfield of the DA described the SAPS as "rotten to the core", and proposed the establishment of a parliamentary ad hoc committee to investigate SAPS corruption.[22] Johan Burger of the Institute for Security Studies, pointed out that the SAPS moves from crisis to crisis, had by 2020 not implemented the proposals for effective policing outlined in the National Development Plan of 2012, and had inept and poorly skilled personnel in top posts.[19] The SAPS announced a streamlining of its organizational and top structure in 2020,[28] following major restructuring in 2016.[29]
• Ordnance is regularly stolen from the security forces or security firms,[30] and it is feared that these may be used in other crimes.[31] The July 2019 UNODC report highlighted a surge in the availability of illegal firearms, including hundreds which are diverted from SAPS custody by corrupt officials, particularly to gangs.[1] From 2010 to 2015 two SAPS colonels sold 5,000 police firearms worth R9 million to gangs in the Western Cape.[18] Firearms stolen from, or lost by, the SANDF during the period 2017-2020 include 57 R4 or R5 rifles, 10 Z88 pistols, five Beretta pistols, four Star pistols, a pair of SIG Sauer pistols, and one Glock and Vector handgun each. Ammunition stolen from, or lost by, the SANDF during the same period are 7,618 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, 340 rounds of 5.45mm and 7.62mm ammunition for light machine guns (LMGs) and assault rifles, besides some 9mm and 12.7mm ammunition, a stun grenade and smoke grenade.[32]
• When suspects are apprehended, the police lack experience to prepare a thorough prima facie case, leaving the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) powerless to institute legal proceedings.[33] This results in very low conviction rates of serious crimes. Only 2% of vehicle hijackings, 2% of robberies of either residential or commercial premises, 9% of sexual offences (5% of adult rape and 9% of child rape cases[34]) result in convictions, while less than 20% of murder investigations will result in a trial date being set.[35] Cooperation between the SAPS and private prosecution initiatives have been effective in stalled cases.[36]
• Some economic crimes go undetected, while the imposed penalties amount to little deterrence.[35][37] Meaningful enforcement would require specialist detectives in dedicated investigative departments.[37] The SAPS's very understaffed[19] Crime Intelligence Division was at times effective, but also subject to enduring power struggles during which effective members were sidelined.[18][29] The force dedicated to rail network policing was reduced by some 6,000 between 1986-2010, which likely facilitated subsequent train arson attacks.[38] By 2020 some toxicological reports of the SAPS were lagging by as much as a decade,[19] while the number of unprocessed DNA samples at the National Forensic Science Laboratories (NFSL) reached a backlog of 117,000 due to mismanagement of the supply chain process.[39][40] Tina Joemat-Pettersson, parliament's chairwoman for the portfolio committee on police, concluded that the country is only reacting to crime, without being proactive.[19]
• Implementation of drone technology in urban centers and informal settlements is seen as an effective and cost-saving crime-fighting tool. The City of Cape Town was first to invest in it, but licensing applications submitted to the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) may take up to two years to be processed.[41]

Around 57 people are murdered in South Africa every day.[47] The murder rate increased rapidly in the late-1980s and early-1990s.[48] Between 1994–2009, the murder rate halved from 67 to 34 murders per 100,000 people.[49] Between 2011–2015, it stabilised to around 32 homicides per 100,000 people although the total number of lives lost has increased due to the increase in population.[50] There have been numerous press reports on the manipulation of crime statistics that have highlighted the existence of incentives not to record violent crime.[51] Nonetheless, murder statistics are considered accurate.[52] In the 2016/17 year, the rate of murders increased to 52 a day, with 19,016 murders recorded between April 2016 to March 2017.[53] In 2001, a South African was more likely to be murdered than die in a car crash.[54] In September 2019, the Nigerian president boycotted the Africa Economy Summit in Cape Town because of the riots against foreigners that left many dead.[55]

Homicides per 100,000 from April to March:[56][57][58][59]

The country has one of the highest rates of rape in the world, with some 65,000 rapes and other sexual assaults reported for the year ending in March 2012, or 127.6 per 100,000 people in the country.[60][61] The incidence of rape has led to the country being referred to as the "rape capital of the world".[62] One in three of the 4,000 women questioned by the Community of Information, Empowerment and Transparency said they had been raped in the past year.[63] More than 25% of South African men questioned in a survey published by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in June 2009 admitted to rape; of those, nearly half said they had raped more than one person.[64][65] Three out of four of those who had admitted rape indicated that they had attacked for the first time during their teenage years.[64] South Africa has amongst the highest incidences of child and infant rape in the world.[66]

“Hijacking Hotspot" warning sign, R511 in Gauteng

South Africa has a high record of carjacking when compared with other industrialised countries.[67] Insurance company Hollard Insurance stated in 2007 that they would no longer insure Volkswagen Citi Golfs, as they were one of the country's most frequently carjacked vehicles.[68] Certain high-risk areas[69] are marked with road signs indicating a high incidence of carjackings within the locality.[70] Smash-and-grab robbers or opportunist vagrants target slow-moving traffic in cities, cars at filling stations or motorists that have become stranded beside highways.[71] More brazen robbers may resort to throwing rocks, petrol bombs or wet cement at vehicles to bring them to a standstill, or may drop rocks from overpasses. Various debris like concrete slabs, tyres or rocks are also placed on roadways, or a car may be tapped or bumped to induce the driver to leave the vehicle. So-called "blue light gangs" have been active in Gauteng since 2018,[72][73][74] who employ vehicles fitted with blue lights and sirens, and wear police apparel to convince motorists or truckers to cooperate.

Preventive police operations on N1, N2, N7, R300, M9 and R102 highways are aimed at reducing crime on these roads,[75] and Durban Metro Police has established a street crime unit that will attend to attacks on motorists in the city.[76]

Criminals target freight trucks and the lucrative goods that are transported in them. A blue light gang may induce a truck driver to stop, or criminals in unmarked vehicles may pull up along the truck to convince the driver that something is wrong with the tires or load. If the driver stops he is boxed in and abducted.[74] 1,202 cases of truck hijacking were reported to the SAPS in 2019/20.[77] Truck drivers may also collude with criminals, and be paid for their bogus claims of a hijacking.[74] The torching of trucks in xenophobic attacks is an additional problem which flared up along the N3 route in April 2018, before spreading to other provinces.[77]

South African taxi operators regularly engage in turf wars to control lucrative routes. A high number of murders of taxi owners or drivers have not resulted in either arrests or successful prosecutions,[78] and this has been blamed on vested interests of police officials.

Cash-in-transit (CIT) heists have at times reached epidemic proportions in South Africa.[79] These are well-planned operations with military-style execution,[80] where the robbers use stolen luxury vehicles and high-powered automatic firearms[81] to bring the armoured car to a stop. Some 44% of CIT attacks occur while money personnel are on foot from the vehicle to the client’s place of business.[82] In 2006 there were 467 reported cases, 400 in 2007/2008,[81] 119 in 2012, 180 in 2014, 370 in 2017, 116 in 2018 and 90 in 2019.[82][83] Arrest rates are generally low,[79] but it was believed that the 2017/2018 spate of heists in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and Gauteng were brought to an end with the arrest of Wellington Cenenda. Several gangs believed to be part of his crime syndicate were also rounded up.[84] These crimes are often perpetrated by ex convicts who are willing to commit extreme violence. They typically act on inside information with cooperation of a police official,[81] or the guards themselves.[85] In 2020 the three largest CIT companies resolved to launch an association that will co-ordinate efforts to counter the unacceptably high levels of violent attacks.[82]

Automated teller machines are blown up, portable ATMs are stolen,[86] or persons who withdraw grants from these machines are targeted afterward. R104 million was taken in a 2014 cash centre heist in Witbank where the gang impersonated police officers.[83]

From 1994 to 2020 South Africa experienced 13,000 farm attacks, during which 2,000 commercial farmers were killed[87] besides others who were injured or wounded. Since 2014 black farmers have also become victims.[88][89][90][91][92] Residents of farms have a four times greater chance to be murdered than the average South African.[93] These crimes against farmers and their black or white staff[94][95] have gained notable press, given the country's past racial tensions.[96][97][98][99] Proposed solutions include the creation of specialized reaction units, research and statistical analysis, improved crime intelligence, drone and other technology and the designation of farm attacks as priority crimes.[100] The DA proposed harsher sentences and a reclassification of farm attacks as priority and hate crimes.[93] Bheki Cele, in a written reply to parliament, said that farm attacks or murders would not be classified as priority crimes, but assured parliamentarians that farm murders are taken very seriously.[101]

Kidnapping in South Africa is common, with over 4,100 occurring in the 2013/2014 period. A child is reported missing every five hours (not all due to kidnapping), of which 23% are not located.[102][103]

In the Nyanga, Mitchells Plain, Delft, and Bishop Lavis townships and suburbs of the Western Cape, gang violence is tightly connected to rates of murder and attempted murder. Gang activity occurs in areas of poor lighting, high unemployment levels, substance abuse and crowded spatial development. Gang bosses and drug lords are well-known members of the community, and while feared, may also receive praise from their community.[104][105] They may support poor families who cannot otherwise pay their rent, or engage in a variety of humanitarian activities.[106] Outside the Cape Flats area, gangs are also active along drug routes in northern Port Elizabeth.[107] Gangster violence erupted in Westbury in Johannesburg in 2018, in Phoenix, Durban, during 2019,[108] and intermittently in Shallcross, Durban, from 2019 to 2021.[109] In 2019, after 13 gang-related deaths in one day in Philippi, the military was authorized to assist a contingent of police to "seal" off affected areas, and "stamp the authority of the state" on the area.[110] Witnesses have noted that they do not consider it worthwhile the risk and exposure to testify against gang members.[111]

A UNHCR camp in Gauteng, erected in 2008 for refugees from xenophobic attacks.

Outbreaks of xenophobic violence have become a regular occurrence in South Africa. These acts are perpetrated by the poorest of the poor, and have been ascribed to a combination of socio-economic issues relating to immigration, migration, lack of economic opportunity, and the ineffective administration of these.[112] The 2019 spate of attacks in Gauteng were in part ascribed to premeditated criminality.[113][114] Hundreds of foreigners had to seek safety, while twelve people were killed and dozens of small businesses belonging to foreigners were looted or completely destroyed.[115] Hundreds of arrests were made on charges of attempted murder, public violence, unlawful possession of firearms and malicious damage to property.[116][117] From Jeppestown[112] the violence spread to Denver, Cleveland, Malvern, Katlehong, Turffontein, Maboneng, Johannesburg CBD and Marabastad. The African Diaspora Forum prompted the government to declare a state of emergency and suggested the deployment of troops.[115] Some victims accused the country's leadership and the police of inaction, and Nigeria arranged voluntary evacuation of its citizens from South Africa. South African businesses in Nigeria were attacked in reprisals,[115] and South Africa's High Commission in Nigeria was temporarily closed.[112] Malicious rumours of attacks by foreigners caused the closing of several schools.[116]

In 2018 VBS Bank collapsed following a spate of corruption, fraud, theft, racketeering and money laundering, and claims totaling R1.5 billion were submitted to the liquidator. Deposits of 14 municipalities which were all illegal in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) were affected. The largest were a R245 million deposit by Fetakgomo/Tubatse Municipality, and a R161 million deposit by Giyani Municipality. By November 2020 some 411 retailers, stokvels and funeral homes have also submitted claims totalling R322 million.[120]

Cloning (or skimming) of bank cards at filling stations or toll gates is a recurring problem.[121] The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) indicated that credit and debit card fraud increased by 20.5% between 2018 and 2019.[122]

Banks have converted their cash handling and transactions to electronic means, ATM's and independent cash-in-transit services. Traditional armed and violent bank heists have consequently reached low levels, with none recorded in the year ending March 2020.[123]

Land invasion in and around South Africa's major cities is a growing concern, and affects private as well as state-owned land.[124][125] Formerly land grabs were typically carried out by locals while expanding their cramped informal settlements. More recently land occupations are organised by persons who take advantage of uncertainty around the relevant land policy. People are encouraged by SMS to act in unison, and drive from afar to illegally occupy plots which may be sold unlawfully for profit.[126] Victims of invasions (as opposed to trespassing) have recourse to the court for an eviction order in terms of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction From and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act, 1998 (Act 19 of 1998).[127] If government acquires residential land the process may be hijacked by corrupt officials.[128] Likewise individuals who successfully approached the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) for access to agricultural land have found that they are harassed and face eviction from their farms when refusing to pay bribes to corrupt officials.[129] Communities on the verges of expanding open-cast mines have found that they are subjected to intense intimidation when not willing to sell.[130][131][132] In 2015 the government implemented additional protective measures relating to RDP properties, after many scams relating to transactions in RDP plots and houses came to light.[133][134] Swindlers posing as department officials have also sold state land.[37][134]

City buildings are regularly hijacked by syndicates. In Johannesburg alone, this has led to thousands of arrests by the JMPD unit and the return of 73 buildings to their rightful owners.[135] Hijacked buildings have also been highlighted as dens for criminal activities.

Mines faced with the financial obligations of creditors, worker benefits and environmental rehabilitation may enter business rescue and liquidation.[136] Rogue liquidators then collude with the company managers to strip the mine's assets, whereby most financial obligations are bypassed. The Master's office in Pretoria has been compromised in attempts to remove liquidators who fulfilled their role as watchdog.[137]

Advance fee fraud scammers based in South Africa have in past years reportedly conned people from various parts of the world out of millions of rands.[138] South African police sources stated that Nigerians living in Johannesburg suburbs operate advance fee fraud (419) schemes.[139]

In 2002, the South African Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, wanted to establish a call centre for businesses to check reputations of businesses due to proliferation of scams such as advance fee fraud, pyramid schemes and fly-by-night operators.[140] In response, the South African Police Service has established a project which has identified 419 scams, closing websites and bank accounts where possible.[141]

Pensioners may receive communications from persons supposedly representing their pension fund, which claim that their annual increases have been incorrectly calculated. The pensioners are instructed to pay back the supposed surpluses, failing which they are threatened with direct deductions from their pension payouts. Such schemes may be orchestrated by corrupt employees of the pension fund, or may be a fraudulent scam run by third parties.[142] Social security cards may be stolen and offered for sale, or non-existing services may be offered to facilitate grants. SASSA confirmed that their services are always free and not for sale.[143][144]

In 2007 it emerged that the CEO of Fidentia, J. Arthur Brown, squandered R1.3 billion of pension benefits, leaving 47,000 beneficiaries, mostly mine workers and their families, destitute.[145] In 2011, 20,000 clothing workers lost their pension money after highly paid consultants secured a loan for Canyon Springs, a repurposed shell company. Canyon Springs immediately distributed the money to its consultants and subsidiaries, which included a struggling property firm.[146] Sactwu had to fund the inquiry into a missing R100 million,[147] while the prospects of recouping the R260 million property investment seemed slim. In April 2017 it was revealed that the Bophelo Beneficiary Fund (BBF), effectively managed by the illegal Zimbabwean immigrant Bongani Mhlanga, likely lost all the funds it held on behalf of Amplats GPF and 7,229 beneficiaries.[145] The fund's holding company, Mvunonala Group, immediately contested this assertion in a press release,[148] claiming all funds were accounted for. Follow-up investigations however revealed that R500 million,[149] or double the amount initially suspected, was indeed squandered and Mvunonala, which had its sights on additional Amplats pensions,[150] was liquidated.[149] The 2017 collapse of Steinhoff due to financial impropriety once again had a ruinous impact on several South African pension funds.[151] The government's employee fund lost some R20 billion.[152] When the FSCA intervenes by placing poorly run pension funds under curatorship, it results in exorbitant management fees.[153]

South Africa's municipalities often employ unqualified personnel[154] who are unable to deliver proper financial and performance governance. This leads to fraud, irregular expenditure (R30 billion in 2017, and R25 billion in 2018) and consequence-free misconduct.[155] Only a fraction (14% in 2017, 8% in 2018) of municipalities submit clean annual audits to the Auditor-General, and implementation of the AG's recommendations has been lax. By 2018, 45% of municipalities have not implemented all procedures for reporting and investigating transgressions or fraud, while 74% were found to insufficiently follow up on such allegations.[155] The late Kimi Makwetu suggested holding employees individually accountable, treating recommendations as binding and issuing a certificate of debt to guilty parties. Government departments and large parastatals generally mirror these problems.[156]

Corruption flourished in South Africa's large parastatals during its state capture saga which lasted from 2011/12 to 2017. In the wake of the fallout, the South African government vowed in 2020 to end political interference in the functioning of state-owned entities.[157] At Eskom, Transnet and Denel[158] in particular, state funds were misappropriated in instances of collusion with certain contractors and suppliers. The resulting losses which amounted to billions of rand were facilitated by dishonest and grossly negligent financial management.[159] The managers of Transnet's pension fund also profited to the order of R500 million, by using their close government ties to leverage their own position against that of the managed fund.[160] In 2020 the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) referred 5,452 Eskom staff members, or over 10% of its workforce, for disciplinary proceedings due to conflict of interest or after they were exposed by lifestyle audits.[161] The employees failed to declare their financial interests, and engaged in dodgy coal, diesel or building contracts with Eskom involving billions of rands. Proceedings to recover overpayments of R2.78 billion from three contractors received the go-ahead.[162] Various well-connected persons, notably Eskom's CEO Brian Molefe, also participated unlawfully in Eskom Pension and Provident Fund (EPPF) membership or were given access to employment perks they were not entitled to.[163] In addition to internal malfeasance there are external syndicates that focus on defrauding Eskom.[164][165]

The Auditor-General of South Africa, which employs 700 chartered accountants to audit state expenditure at all three levels of government, has revealed a surge in crimes against its employees, starting 2016. The crimes are tied to the detection of financial mismanagement and the annual release of municipal audit reports. During the countrywide audit of municipalities, their auditors have experienced hijackings, death threats, attempted murder, hostage-taking, threatening phone calls and damage to their vehicles.[166] In 2018 South Africa incurred R80 billion in irregular expenditure due to outstanding audits and incomplete information,[167][168] and passing of municipal budgets may be subject to bribes.[169] The country's leadership was accused of disregarding the AG's recommendations in cases of wrongdoing.[167]

Lawyers representing clients that make personal injury claims from the Road Accident Fund (RAF), have made excessive profits by overcharging them. Individuals in desperate need of a pay-out are conned by the enticing offer of "no win, no fee". In one prominent case the NPA's Asset Forfeiture Unit managed to obtain a court order in 2019 to seize and reclaim R101 million in assets from two lawyers.[170] Similar attempts to fleece millions from provincial health departments by submitting fake and fraudulent medical negligence claims have been thwarted.[171][172] Lawyers acting as conveyancers have also colluded with politicians to defraud government in various land acquisition deals.[173][128]

Fake professionals render valueless services to the public or con them out of their livelihoods. Fake tax practitioners or tax experts make promises that they can secure refunds from SARS, or offer to assist with PAYE submissions. Some of the refunds are illegal and are pocketed by the syndicates.[174] Fake school, tertiary or other certificates are a fairly widespread phenomenon and are easy to come by.[175][176] Fake medical practitioners and teachers have been exposed after their qualifications were scrutinized.[177] Unregistered surgeons that perform circumcisions in initiation ceremonies have caused the deaths of many.[178] Well-placed persons are also able to manipulate payrolls to, i.a., commit identity fraud or pay themselves double salaries.[179] People desperate for employment may fall prey to fake recruitment agencies that levy illegal charges.[180]

The South African government's unemployment insurance fund supplies temporary relief to workers whose income is being affected by the national Covid-19 lockdown. When a worker finds new employment the reference number of the previous employer is used illegally to secure a surreptitious pay-out from the UIF Covid-19 fund.[181] The bank account details of the receiving company may also be falsified.[182]

Covid-19 emergency funds, supplied to South Africa by the IMF, have fallen prey to fraudsters when stringent tender procedures were not followed. Tenders worth over R2 billion for personal protective equipment (ppe), allocated by the Gauteng health department to 160 different companies, are under investigation by Gauteng's special investigation unit.[183] An additional R30 million of illegal tenders in Kwazulu-Natal, besides tenders in the Eastern Cape, are under investigation and do not appear to comply with the national treasury's regulations on the emergency purchases of supplies and services.[184] Employees of government institutions, including the SAPS, have also been implicated in over R1 billion of irregular deposits of Covid-19 funds into private companies.[22]

Some of these companies were not in the healthcare business, or were formed in the wake of the pandemic to cash in on relief funds. Some of them spent only 5% of the funds on personal protective equipment, while 40% went to the directors.[22] Water tanks were installed at KwaZulu-Natal schools at multiples of their commercial value, a R168 million tender for water and sewer project in the Eastern Cape was not delivered by the municipal manager, a R4.8 million tender for a Covid-19 awareness campaign cannot be accounted for, and a R37 million tender issued under the emergency regulations by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, resulted in a poorly constructed fence at Beit Bridge border post of which large parts were soon stolen.[184]

Private "covidpreneurs" launched numerous scams to exploit the public during the pandemic,[185][186] but violent crime showed a slight decrease during level 4 and 3 lockdown, compared to the same months of the previous year.[7]

Arson was a recurring problem at Cape Town railway station during 2016 and 2018

Prasa collected information about train arson attacks since 2015, and stated that losses of some R636 million were incurred due to train fires from 2015 to January 2019. 71%, or losses totaling R451.6 million rand, occurred in the Western Cape, besides damage of R150 million to Cape Town Station.[187] This entailed the burning of 214 train coaches, 174 in the Western Cape, and the remainder in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. Cape Town's fleet of 90 trains was reduced to 44, and only one suspect was arrested.[188][189] Some replacement trains acquired at R146 million each could not be insured.[190] Police ombudsman J.J. Brand found that the SAPS failed to prevent, properly investigate, or successfully prosecute those responsible.[38]

One aspect of xenophobic violence is the torching of trucks driven by foreigners on main routes.[191] In a prominent incident in April 2018, 32 trucks were torched and others looted near Mooi River on the N3 route,[192] and 54 protesters and opportunist looters were arrested.[193] Coordinated attacks during November 2020 targeted many freight trucks on the N3 and N12 routes.[194] The attackers managed to loot and destroy 35 trucks[77] in KwaZulu-Natal and at Heidelberg,[195] Parys-Sasolburg[77] and Daveyton[196] respectively. Truck drivers were shot at, with some injured and one killed.[197] 25 people were arrested.[77]

Faiez Jacobs pointed out that arson cripples the entire value chain of the community‚ with many people unable to go to work‚ losing daily wages‚ and ultimately losing their employment, which in turn causes social upheaval and adds burdens to their community.[198] SATAWU has noted that labour strikes that are called by unidentifiable persons have been associated with incidents of arson.[199]

Illegal mining shows an upward trend in South Africa and is inter-related with organised crime[200] and money laundering.[201] Thousands of disused or active mines attract illegal miners, also known as zama zamas, due to unanswered socio-economic inequalities. The estimated 30,000 illegal miners are organised by criminal syndicates which infiltrate industrial gold mines, where they employ violent means and exploitative working conditions.[202] Losses in sales, tax revenue and royalties are said to amount to 21 billion rand per annum, while physical infrastructure and public safety are compromised. Output in excess of 14 billion rand of gold per annum has been channeled to international markets via neighbouring countries. The greater part, over 34 tons of gold between 2012 and 2016, was smuggled to Dubai. The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2002 acknowledges artisanal miners, but an overhaul of the act has been proposed.[203] The Council for Geoscience is partly responsible for rehabilitating the 6,000 abandoned mines in South Africa (600 around Johannesburg alone), but is barely making headway.[204]

At times construction contractors rent out their haul trucks and excavators to syndicates who then proceed with open-cast mining in contravention of the National Environmental Management Act.[205] Mining companies which operate from no fixed address, may also submit fraudulent applications for mining licenses, by for instance plagiarizing the required environmental impact assessment (EIA).[206] Unregistered operators of precious metal refineries are charged with illegal possession of unwrought precious metals under the Precious Metals Act, cyanide pollution under the Environmental Act, and their equipment and raw materials are seized.[207]

Livestock theft is prevalent in all provinces of South Africa, but the Eastern Cape has the highest number of cases.[208] Some 70,000 head of cattle are stolen per annum, and total annual losses amount to 1,3 billion rand. Sheep farming has been abandoned in some areas due to regular losses. Organized livestock theft which bags large numbers of livestock at a time is on the rise, representing about 88% of these thefts in 2019.[208] The losses impact the livelihoods of farm workers besides farmers,[209] and it is claimed that crime prevention has yet to catch up with the modus operandi of syndicates.[208] A stock theft task force has been established in the Free State,[7] and Eskom has provided a hotline for the reporting of suspicious activities by its employees, after alleged stock theft on a Northern Cape farm.[210]

Since 2015 theft of avocado and macadamia produce has shown an upward trend which affects smallholder as well as large scale farmers. Locally avocado fetches up to R25 per fruit in 2020, while macadamia, of which South Africa is the largest producer, fetches up to $25 per pound internationally. During the autumn harvest season, producers consequently rely on costly round the clock security measures to dissuade thieves. Single opportunists besides organised syndicates are at work, which via middle men supply a thriving black market.[211][212]

As of 2018/2019 an average of 605 houses per day are burgled in South Africa.[213] Electronics, especially laptops, televisions, decoders and cameras, are the most stolen items, followed by jewellery.

Vandalism and theft of municipal infrastructure have an impact on municipal budgets, interrupts service delivery, and burdens the tax payer.[214] Gates, fencing, man-hole covers, paving stones, metal sheeting,[215] any copper objects (which fetches R80/kg),[216] brass water meters, street lights, pipes, bathroom faucets and parts of statues are stolen,[217] and smaller items may be transported in black garbage bins in broad daylight.[218][219] Proposals to curb these crimes include installation of CCTV cameras, raids on scrap-yards, closure of illegal ones and daily updates of theft statistics.[214] In Cape Town the specialized Copper Theft Unit (or so-called "Copperheads") was established in 2007, which arrested 275 thieves and scrap dealers during their first year of operation.[217] This reduced the city's annual financial loss due to copper theft from R22 million to under R500,000.[220] Municipal land may also be sold illegally by self-appointed council agents.[134] In 2010, 33 fraudulent land transactions were uncovered by the Johannesburg city council.[37]

Cut cables at Meyerton, Gauteng

Cable theft by crime syndicates and subsistence thieves cause millions of rand in annual losses to the eThekwini, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay metros, while conviction rates hover around 4%. Likewise Telkom, Eskom and Spoornet each report thousands of cable theft incidents annually.[220] Cable theft from train stations has impacted train services and endangered passengers in Gauteng, and brought services to a standstill in Mamelodi.[221]

In Johannesburg vandalism and theft of the power grid infrastructure shows an upward trend. Hundreds of millions of rand is lost to vandalising of street poles and theft of newly-installed equipment such as supply cables and aerial bundled cables. Mini-substations, pole transformers,[214] road interchanges, and lights on pedestrian bridges are targeted by criminals and a high number of illegal connections also damage the supply transformers.[222]

Illegal connections to the power grid is a common problem in major centers. As of 2020, illegal connections in Soweto alone causes Johannesburg's City Power R3 million in losses daily,[223] but the practice is also present in Roodepoort, Midrand, Diepsloot and even the upmarket Waterfall Estate.[224] Not only households, but many businesses and even a church have been found to steal electricity.[223][225] Some property developers deliberately connect smart meters illegally, fail to register meters during construction, or divert power temporarily during and for the construction process.[224]

Johannesburg's City Power imposes a fine of R30,000 and expects the payment of all arrears before a premises is reconnected.[226] In addition to private premises, there are syndicates that focus on defrauding Eskom.[227][228] By 2020, due to a culture of non-payment, municipalities have accumulated debt of R46.1 billion (R31 billion overdue) with Eskom,[224] and sometimes refuse to pay despite court judgements against them.[229] Payments meant for Eskom may also disappear in the pockets of municipal workers.[230]

Schools are seen as easy targets for thieves looking for laptops, computers, cameras and cash,[231] though even filing cabinets, desks and stationery may be stolen. Local protests, whether due to lack of service delivery or other reasons, regularly result in arson or vandalism at schools.[232][233][234] In one week in 2018, four schools were set alight in Mpumalanga province.[235] Criminals have also targeted teachers and school personnel.[236][237]

South Africa has become a consumer, producer and distributor of hard drugs.[238] The trade in heroin, ultimately obtained from Afghanistan, has gained a foothold in rural areas, towns and cities. The heroin trade has a corrupting effect on police, through their interactions with gangs, dealers and users.[239] Popular drug combinations that include heroin, are nyaope, sugars and unga. Tik addicts in townships who commit theft to sustain their habit, have been murdered in instances of mob justice.

Since the 1990s operatives of international drug cartels have made South Africa their home, and have carried out a slew of internecine assassinations. They are believed to launder foreign drug money, run extortion rackets, trade in illicit goods, and have succeeded in corrupting senior policemen and government officials.[240] Police and investigating agencies are often sidetracked by arresting smaller cogs in the underworld machine, while the kingpins manage to fly under the radar.[241]

South Africa is a party to CITES, the aim of which is to insure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.[242] Vulnerable species in the South African context include the African elephant, white and black rhinoceros, abalone, certain whale species, Encephalartos cycads and certain succulents.[243] In reptile laundering, animals caught in the wild are presented as captive-bred.[244] Trade in poached reptiles affects small adders, tortoises, lizards (Cordylus and geckos) and dwarf chameleons, which all fetch very high prices internationally. Detection dogs have been useful in locating wildlife products in luggage, and DNA analysis is employed to determine where such products originated.[245] The identification of DNA markers that would distinguish between captive-bred and poached reptiles is in an early stage of development.[244]

Gated communities are popular with the South African middle-class; both Black as well as White.[52] Gated communities are usually protected by high perimeter walls topped with electric fencing, guard dogs, barred doors and windows and alarm systems linked to private security forces.[52] The Gauteng Rationalisation of Local Government Affairs Act 10 of 1998, allows communities to "restrict" access to public roads in existing suburbs, under the supervision of the municipalities. The law requires that entry control measures within these communities should not deny anyone access. The Tshwane municipality failed to process many of the applications it has received, leaving many suburbs exposed to high levels of crime. Several communities successfully sued, won and are now legally restricting access.[246][247][248] These measures are generally considered effective in reducing crime (within those areas).[249] Consequently, the number of enclosed neighbourhoods (existing neighbourhoods that have controlled access across existing roads)[250] in Gauteng has continued to grow.[251]

The SAPS is responsible for managing 1,123 police stations across South Africa,[252] and as of 2020 had 146,186[253] service members. By contrast South Africa had 450,000 private security guards, besides 1.5 million qualified "but inactive" private security personnel in 2020.[18]

To protect themselves and their assets, many businesses and middle-to-high-income households make use of privately owned security companies with armed security guards. The SAPS employ private security companies to patrol and safeguard certain police stations, thereby freeing fully trained police officers to perform their core function of preventing and fighting crime.[254] A December 2008 BBC documentary, Law and Disorder in Johannesburg, examined such firms in the Johannesburg area, including the Bad Boyz security company.

It is argued that the police response is generally too slow and unreliable in South Africa, thus private security companies offer a more efficient form of protection. Private security firms promise response times of two to three minutes.[255] Many levels of protection are offered, from suburban foot patrols to complete security checkpoints at entry points to homes.