Government-Led and Business-Led Initiatives of the VOC

[Last Updated : 22 March 2009]

Government-led Initiatives

Background

While it is Government’s Constitutional mandate to ensure that citizens, travellers and businesses within the country are safe and secure, Business Against Crime South Africa recognises that no one Department, agency, organisation and/or individual can succeed against crime alone. Business Against Crime South Africa, therefore, supports the initiatives led by Government to reduce the unacceptably high levels of crime in the country.

Visible Policing Initiatives

Priority Government interventions included visible policing initiatives across the country, and in particular in the high priority provinces of Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and the North West. These have assisted various crime prevention operations in high crime areas and have disrupted a number of robberies, including Cash-In-Transits.

Joint Operational Centres

Joint Operations Centres (JOCs, which include the National and Provincial JOCs) have been established to enhance information-sharing, operational planning and resource deployment.

Crime Scene Management and Evidence Gathering Processes

A focus on crime scene management and evidence gathering processes, supported by the newly established Hi-Tech Centre, has enhanced the identification of crime scene suspects and investigations. The arrest of outstanding warrants and crime scene wanteds continues to reap rewards, with these receiving priority attention by the NPA in partnership with the SAPS.

Business-led Initiatives

Background

Business is well-positioned to support Government in the fight against crime through efforts that co-ordinate and bring to bear the rich resources, skills, expertise and knowledge that the business community has to offer. Best practice models and business process solutions, while often originating from the private sector, can be usefully adapted to the public sector environment and in this case the fight against crime.

Modus Operandi

A key tenet of Business Against Crime South Africa is, however, that no solution will work without the concomitant leadership and ownership of the solution at outset. As a result, BACSA works with Government and industry partners jointly to develop viable solutions and strategies for broader roll-out and impact.

Broad Aims of the Business-led Initiatives

Business Against Crime South Africa, as strategic facilitator and catalyst, also seeks to help business improve its own capacity to actively minimise its vulnerability to the types of crimes which target businesses, such as business robberies, for example, through the initiatives led by business. These initiatives seek to reduce the high levels of crime in the country by focusing on the trio of crimes and cross-cutting issues related to these.

Sharing of Information

Business focus includes support to SAPS operations through timely up-to-the-minute information-flows from business to the SAPS on hot spots, video surveillance, suspected criminals, and vehicle-related matters through the Tsohle-Unicode information-sharing agreement.

The latter agreement was brokered by Business Against Crime South Africa in 2008 between Tsohle-Unicode, the SAPS, and the Vehicle Industry. The renewed agreement will run until 2012 and circulates information on wanted vehicles and recovered vehicles to various key stakeholders, including the banking sector (i.e., to limit the risk of financing laundered vehicles).

Lorinda Nel, Project Manager for Vehicle Crime, Business Against Crime South Africa, had this to say about the agreement struck between the parties to combat vehicle theft: “The kind of service that brings together the best technologies in the industry to combat vehicle theft is a major achievement for all partners who signed the Memorandum. BACSA is committed to this type of initiative which intends stabilising the vehicle crime situation in the country”.

Appropriate Technology-Use, Standards and Business Process Solutions

A focus on preventative measures continues through the formulation and application of industry standards for surveillance systems and cash management procedures. Cash management procedures focus on the core of the national cash management system as comprised by the banking, Cash-in-Transit and retail sectors (i.e., shopping centres).

Private Security Industry Voluntary Vetting Process

The voluntary vetting of all members of the private security industry has begun with the full support of the private security industry and the business sector.

During the first quarter of 2008, close to 20% of private security members had been vetted.

In addition to this, the alignment of private security operations with those of the SAPS began through pilot initiatives in Gauteng. These are soon to be expanded to KZN, Western Cape and North West - three priority provinces which, in 2008, have shown a particularly concerning increase in the reported number of business robberies.

Residential Robberies

The challenges associated with Residential Robberies are being addressed through various focused interventions, such as the Honeydew Police Station Pilot in Gauteng. Given the importance of having all stakeholders actively involved in the fight against crime, this pilot will be rolled-out to KZN, Western Cape and North West, once sufficiently tested. Once gains in this high crime priority area are achieved, the accelerated replication to other will be required as a matter of urgency.
Vehicle Theft and Hijacking

Various anti-hijacking initiatives have continued to receive attention through the work of the VOC.

These include:

• The improvement of vehicle identification through the application of the Micro-Dotting technology (the uptake of the technology is currently being encouraged at the OEM-level and with the insurance sector),
• The initiation of business self-regulation with regards to enforcing the change of ownership of wrecked and written-off vehicles,
• Supporting the SAPS drafting of the Second Hand Goods Act (this is currently with the National Council Of Provinces – Business Against Crime South Africa, will continue to co-ordinate the inputs of various industry stakeholders on the supporting regulations, once the Act is promulgated),
• The continued sharing of information between Government and industry stakeholders through such initiatives as the SAPS/Tsohle Unicode agreement (see 2 paragraphs above which can be linked to the words: SAPS/Tsohle Unicode agreement),
• The continued improvement of motor vehicle registration and licensing authorities to minimise fraud and bribery within the Department of Transport (DOT)(i.e., the Best Practice Model (BPM) has shown positive results and, as a result, Government has taken ownership of the model), and
• The development of the concept of electronic vehicle identity (where electronic licence discs and intelligent number plates will complement visible policing on the roads and improve the effectiveness of route monitoring with up-to-the-minute information from SAPS and other databases).