SAICB Case Study

South Africa: The war on commercial crime. Imagine the scenario: you have invited several members of your family round to your house for a barbecue for a lovely day catching up with the kids playing in the garden. Then imagine as all your guests are enjoying themselves a gang of criminals rush in pointing guns at your family, threatening and terrifying everyone, stealing all their personal belongings, ransacking the house and leaving with the vehicles of the home owners and the guests. Now imagine someone argues back to protect their family and gets shot. Just for the car. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon in South Africa where many people are the victims of organised crime gangs. As hosts to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the world’s media spotlight is firmly placed on South Africa, however despite the country’s efforts to tackle these issues, many reports are focusing on the negative with the country’s poor reputation for organised and violent crime. Crimes such as burglary and theft are an issue but a key area of concern is car jacking such as the incident described, which, unlike in the UK, is often violent and has a major impact on society in South Africa with many people losing lives as a result. The crime is extremely hazardous, threatening the physical safety of both the carjacker and the victim. To secure the car, the carjacker may sometimes shoot the victim or physically push/pull the victim out of the driver's seat to force him or her out of the car.