Robbery stats reveal shocking truth

CAPE TOWN – While the DA has taken Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa to task for his failure to release more regular crime statistics, research has revealed that up to 30% of burglars either have done so or are willing to commit murder.

“Covering up crime won‘t make it go away; no one asked you to protect us from the truth,” DA police spokesman Dianne Kohler-Barnard said in the National Assembly during a debate on the Safety and Security budget vote.

She criticised Mthethwa for his decision to “renege” on his predecessor‘s (Charles Nqakula‘s) assertion that crime statistics would be released twice a year.

“The minister (Mthethwa) in fact told me in a televised discussion that if he had his way we would only be informed of the status of crime once every second year.

“Now we have to wait until September before he releases the statistics, which will by then be 18 months out of date. Hardly a reflection on the cold, hard reality of crime we are experiencing today.”

The only recent crime statistics that are available have been extracted from research done on residential robberies and interviews with arrested/convicted robbers by Dr Rudolph Zinn, from Unisa‘s School of Criminal Justice.

The research reveals:

• House robberies have increased by 13,5% in the past year.
  
  
• Of the almost 15000 residential robberies committed last year, 50% took place in Gauteng.
  
  
• The average age of a house robber is 19 to 26 years.
  
  
• An average of 30% of all house robbers have committed murder or are willing to commit murder.
  
  
• 17% of house robbers are foreigners.
  
  
• 90% of arrested robbers had no matric or were unemployed.
  
  
• The 10% who were employed gave up their jobs when confirming how much they could make from a robbery.
  
  
• Most victims/targets are affluent people who openly display their wealth, i.e. expensive cars, jewellery, upmarket homes.
  
  
• Eight out of 10 residential robberies are committed with the help of information from maids, gardeners and former employees.
  
  
• Robbers will monitor the home for as long as two weeks.
  
  
• Gangs research armed response firms‘ response times.
  
  
• Most attacks occur between 7pm and midnight as people are relaxed, cooking or watching TV.
  
  
• The biggest deterrent confirmed by robbers themselves are small dogs kept inside the home.
  
  
• Alarm systems and armed reaction services are not a deterrent.
  
  
• Electric fences, CCTV and detection beams do deter robbers.
  
  
• Victims of house robberies are only seriously injured in 2% of all incidents.
  
  
• 35% of robbers robbed for basic needs (hunger, poverty), while 65% enjoyed the money and spent it on clothes, cars and houses.
  
  
• The average robber commits 103 robberies over seven years before being caught.
  
  
• 97% of robbers are armed.
  
  
• Women are more often tortured or hurt during robberies.
  
  
• On average an armed robbery gang has four members.
  
  
• The conviction rate for house robberies in South Africa is 7,67%; in the USA it is 53%.

Source - Minister wants to keep mum on crime – but robbery stats reveal shocking truth

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