During the official release of the crime statistics for the first quarter of the 2021/2022 financial year, Police Minister Bheki Cele announced that 10,006 people were raped between April and June 2021.

A sample of 5,439 rape cases revealed that 3,766 of these incidents took place either at the home of the victim or the home of the rapist. 487 of the rape cases were domestic violence related. 

Police stations in Inanda in KwaZulu-Natal, Delft in the Western Cape and Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape have the highest recorded incidents of rape, making them the three rape hotspots in South Africa.

Cele said that the increase of 4 201 cases, amounts to a 72.4% increase, compared to the ’’skewed’’ previous reporting period, as a result of the hard Level 5 lockdown that took place last year. This number drops to 2.8% when compared to the ’’normal’’ period prior to lockdown. 

‘The double-digit increase in most crime categories is attributed to the impact of the adjusted lockdown levels and distorted crime trends,’ said Cele. ‘While we will not sweep the high and unnatural figures under the carpet, we will instead bring to the fore a holistic picture of comparing the 2021/2022 Q1 crime figures to a ‘normal period’ two years ago where there was no lockdown.’

According to the SAPS, the following places and situations make you more vulnerable to rape:

• In dark and deserted places at night;
• If you look vulnerable (e.g. walking alone in desolate areas);
• If you appear uncertain, e.g. if you do not know where you are going;
• If you do not lock your car doors and close your windows;
• If you talk to strangers;If you stop for stranded vehicles or people;
• If your vehicle is faulty and you have to stop for help.

Some of the things that you can do to protect yourself:

• Be aware of your surroundings.
• Be alert at traffic lights and stop streets.
• Walk close to the curb and face oncoming traffic.
• Try and keep to well-lit areas or where there are people.
• Do not hitch-hike.
• Do not pick up hitch-hikers.
• Keep Securadoor Self Defence Pepper Spray with you at all times and use it when necessary.

Putting your safety in your hands, pepper spray is an ideal self-defence product that provides people in danger with an opportunity to escape.  It can be used to ward off an assailant by temporarily debilitating them when sprayed in the face. 

Securadoor Self Defence Pepper Spray is available in three useful variants:

• The Securadoor Key Ring Pepper Spray fits on your key chain for easy access and goes with you wherever you go
• The Securadoor Joggers Pepper Spray is equipped with an elastic Velcro strap that can be attached to your wrist or hand and can be used when cycling or jogging.
• The Securadoor Lipstick Pepper Spray is designed to be concealed as lipstick that comfortably fits into your pocket or handbag for easy access when needed.

Order yours today from Makro and Takealot.

Crime Spotter App Promises to Deliver Real Community Crime Fighting

The crime rate in South Africa is nothing to brag about, and regular citizens are fighting a daily battle to keep their loved ones and property safe from this scourge.

The reporting of crime and suspicious activity has improved in recent years with the advent of community chat groups. We’re living in an age in which ordinary citizens are invited to be active participants in the fight against crime. Knowledge is power when it comes to crime prevention and successes hinge on the sharing of intelligence, so harnessing the power of social media is imperative.

This is all well and good, but popular social chat apps like WhatsApp and Facebook messenger have their limitations, and can negatively impact the efforts of community members to effectively help report and fight crime:

People love posting irrelevant information (advertising, lost pets, road blocks, speed traps or any council issues) on community groups, which makes the act of reporting actual crime more difficult. One of the bigger problems is the fact that people become argumentative or use foul language on these types of groups.

Finally, there is no way for communities to measure and track the crimes they report on these groups. This type of information is invaluable to the crime fighting efforts of police and private security companies.

This is where an inspired new crime fighting App hopes to make a huge difference in how we report and track crime. Crime Spotter brings communities closer together through easy to use technology so that information can be shared quickly and centrally.

Features of the App include push notifications of crimes happening nearby, the ability to report suspicious activity and missing persons. Crime reports can be shared easily through Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp. 

Crime Spotter also keeps track of reported crimes, and these statistics will allow law enforcement and security companies to make informed decisions. Crime follows trends and patterns, and the tools that this app provides makes linking crime information, and direct crime fighting action easier than ever before.

Gerald Yapp, one of the creators of Crime Spotter has put years of development and planning into the app that he believes will change crime fighting for good. “Many crimes go unreported as the only incentive to travel to a police station and report it is if you have an insurance claim. As statistics rely on these reports from the police we end up with and inaccurate depiction of crime trends. This app will solve this,” he says.

The creators of the App have been working with dozens of CPF and community crime fighting groups to understand the needs of crime fighting units in South African.

“We have worked with dozens of Community Policing Forums (CPFs) and neighbourhood watches to see how they work and what tools they need available to them. During this time we have been developing the blueprints for the App and are at a stage now that we are ready to complete the development – all we need is backing to make it happen,” Yapp concluded.

The developers are looking for sponsorship from companies or individuals through a crowdfunding initiative. 

A crowd-funding page has been set up for those who would like to contribute to the project and see this App materialize.
Visit - https://www.thundafund.com/project/crimespotter

Official website is at - https://crimespotter.app/

CrimeNote has now been released, starting from 30 June 2018.

This website simply provides an easy to use interactive platform where information about crime in South Africa can be shared amongst the public.

Why start something like CrimeNote?

When people are describing South Africa, it often includes:“Except for the crime…” or “Security is a problem…”South Africa is full of beauty, both natural and man-made with some of the most beautiful coastlines, mountains, wildlife and floral kingdom in the world.The cuisine is very unique with influences from numerous different cultures and the wine is world class!

BUT when it comes to CRIME, this beauty fades into insignificance.

"We all know how prevalent crime is in South Africa, just look at the statistics.

With CrimeNote, the public will be able to share information, news and warnings about crime all over the country and potentially help others to avoid such incidents.

The idea being that with CrimeNote, we will be able to minimise crime risk and together build a better society in which we can all prosper.

In order to make this service as beneficial and efficient to the public, we welcome any comments or suggestions that you may have

With growth come responsibility Who is responsible for your online security? Who's responsibility is it that you stay on the right side of the law at all times? Yes... you are! The latest e-commerce stats from Statista.com show that 40% of worldwide internet users have bought products or goods online via desktop, mobile, tablet or other online devices. This amounts to more than 1 billion online buyers and should continue grow steadily.

 

This shows us the tremendous growth of eCommerce. With this positive growth comes negatives as well, online scams are increasing, payment fraud is on the uptake, consumers are abusing the CPA when it comes to refunds, returns etc. Protection of personal information is becoming more and more important, information is being stolen and social media is full of schemes and fraudsters.

Thus... The eCommerce Law & Security Conference was born! By attending this conference on 3 & 4 June 2015 delegates will learn from experts how to avoid and prevent all of the above mentioned from affecting you and your company. Speakers will share their knowledge and expertise on industry topics to ensure you leave the conference with an updated wealth of knowledge and strategy on how to implement all of this including the POPI Act in your organisation. More information click here...

Expert speakers include: Robby Coelho - Webber Wentzel Andrew Kirkland - Trustwave SA Rosalind Lake - Norton Rose Fulbright Ashleigh van Kerckhoven - KPMG Rosalind Davey & Khomotso Makapane - Bowman Gilfillan  

Early Bird Registrations Open Register 2 delegates for ONLY R4798. Normal registration fee for the full 2 day conference is R3199 per delegate. Included in the registration fee: *Full access to the conference, panel discussion and workshop *Sit-down buffet lunch both days *Free Parking *3 Refreshment breaks per day *Digital copies of each presentation *Networking Opportunities with speakers and delegates *2 days full of informative up-to-date presentations   Register NOW!    

Exclusive Workshop Attendees will have the benefit of attending a workshop on 4 June inclusive in the conference package. Understanding & Managing the Risks of Social Media presented by Rosalind Davey and Khomotso Makapane from one of SA's top law firms Bowman Gilfillan. Read more

 

{pp}A free to use, map based community crime reporting website has been launched in South Africa. The website allows users to report crimes in their area and to receive crime alerts of any crimes being reported in a specified radius around them.