Programme director
Chairman of South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) Board, Cas Coovadia
Chief Executive Officer of SABRIC, Kalyani Pillay
SABRIC board members
Banking ombudsman
Ombudsman for financial services providers
Chief Executive Officers of the major banks present
Acting Head of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Advocate Mokotedi Mpshe
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
We are humbled and honoured by this invitation to come and share some of our thoughts on the fight against crime. We view business and the banking sector in particular, as important role players in government’s goal of effectively dealing with crime. Due to the shifting nature of crime in South Africa, as government we believe it is important to constantly re-evaluate our approach to fight crime, especially violent and serious crimes. In our many engagements with business and civil society we constantly receive valuable insights, which have helped in reducing and dealing with some of these heinous crimes.
We are therefore hopeful that tonight’s interaction will not only afford us an opportunity to engage you on some of our initiatives, but equally, we shall also learn about some of the measures you are implementing. Government moves from a premise that it is only through strong partnerships that we can create safer environments which enable economic development, growth and attract investments. Amongst some of your many responsibilities is to establish and maintain the best possible framework for banking groups to practice responsible, yet competitive and profitable, banking.
We also recognise your role as a linkage among many South Africans who utilise banks as part of their safe guarding of investments. Your platform therefore allows you to be the voice between government, consumer bodies and other interest groups regarding banking issues. What this tells us programme director; is that as Government we have an important partner in the fight against crime, particularly when dealing with violent crime. Through your industry expertise and insight combined with the South African Police Service (SAPS) resources, intelligence and commitment, we remain confident that we can win the war against crime.
We are further grateful to learn that the banking sector has been pro-active in leading the crusade against crime by setting up initiatives to combat automatic teller machine (ATM) crime, cheque fraud and crime in business. Based on these initiatives, it is evident that the banking sector's involvement in supporting government in the fight against crime remains invaluable. Three weeks ago, we released crime statistics in South Africa for the past fiscal year.
One of the elements that leads to anxiety in society is the impact crime has on business. We cannot allow this to become a hindrance between financial institutions and societies they serve. We said at the time and still emphasise that this is a call to action for government, business, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and our communities.
A crime trend overview in relation to a partnership between police and banks paints an encouraging picture. In relation to bank robberies, we have noticed a 27 percent decline from 2007/08 to 2008/09. We can therefore attribute this decline in crime incidents to joint efforts between law enforcement agencies and the banking community. The growth in credit card fraud inside South Africa has also slowed down, mainly due to sharp decrease in the abuse of lost and stolen cards. The results indicated sectors where we made progress and areas where a lot still needs to be done.
We recognise that we have our work cut out but remain determined to change these trends. In assessing the increase in aggravated robberies there are three areas which account for the increase in aggravated robberies. These areas are business robberies, house robberies and hijackings. Of the three areas mentioned, the highest increase was recorded in the area of business robberies. During this fiscal year the number of reported business cases increased by 41.5 percent compared to the previous year.
Through our engagement with various business sectors, a number of key areas have been identified that could assist us in dealing with this form of crime. The first relates to the type of businesses being targeted. It has become clear that while there have been slight increases in robberies targeting formal organised business, the biggest increase has been in the small business sector. In fact this small business sector accounts for almost two thirds of all business robberies. It is important to recognise that the police need to do more to assist and protect these small businesses.
However we are also aware that certain factors make these businesses particularly vulnerable to such robberies. Issues like the availability of cash (often linked to the difficulty these businesses face when it comes to banking) and the unavailability of resources to implement crime prevention measures contributes to making these businesses vulnerable.
We want to engage banks on how we can assist small businesses regarding their cash management. On the occasion of the release of statistics, we had made an undertaking that over the next few months we will be engaging both large and smaller businesses in an attempt to see how we can support each other to reduce robberies at small business premises. Tonight is one of the many engagements we have begun. Programme director, to address business robberies more generally we are working towards consolidating our partnership with business.
This partnership seeks to jointly improve our efforts through, enhanced police and business crime prevention measures and improving alignment between the business sector and government. A crucial activity in this alignment process is greater information sharing. We are confident that as we move forward with this partnership which focuses on a government directed and led strategy supported by business, we will be able to assist in making South Africa a safer place to do business. Another area that requires our attention is the increase in commercial crime. Commercial crime increased by 16 percent.
What is also concerning is that this increase is also accompanied by an increase in the amount of money. Clearly, this is an area that requires more focused attention by both business and government. The dramatic decline in bank robberies is extremely encouraging. During the last financial year the number of bank robberies declined by a massive 27 percent. Some of the key factors which contributed to our success in this area include: the partnership developed between the business and government, resulting in increased arrests of perpetrators, strict bail for offenders and measures introduced by the banks themselves.
What is equally encouraging is that ATM attacks (which were not listed as a specific category in our crime statistics) also declined by 10 percent. The picture between January and September of this year would seem to indicate that this 10 percent decline has now risen to a 75 percent decrease. Once again this decrease can be attributed to improved police’s responses and approaches as well as enhanced co-operation with the banking sector, as well as steps taken by banks themselves to reduce risks. The success of government's approach to the fight against crime is dependent on establishing strong partnerships with communities.
This is a Call to business, specifically the banking sector to utilise all the resources available to you, to partner with Government in creating an enabling safe business environment. We are confident that as we move forward with this partnership which focuses on a government directed and led strategy supported by business, we will be able to assist in making South Africa a safer place to do business.
I thank you.
Issued by: South African Police Service
15 October 2009
Source: South African Police Service (http://www.saps.gov.za/
