A losing battle? Assessing the detection rate of commercial crime
| Author | Trevor Budhram,Nicolaas Geldenhuys |
| Pages | 7-18 |
| Date | 01 September 2017 |
| DOI | 10.10520/EJC-b6972b5a9 |
| Record Number | iscrime_n61_a2 |
| Published date | 01 September 2017 |
7
SA CRIME QUARTERLY NO. 61 • SEPTEMBER 2017
A losing battle?
Assessing the detection rate
of commercial crime
* Trevor Budhram is a senior lecturer in Forensic Investigation at
the University of South Africa and holds a PhD in Police Science.
Nicolaas Geldenhuys is a forensic investigator and holds a Masters
degree in forensic investigation.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) struggles to protect victims from commercial crime
that threatens the economy, corrodes scarce and valuable resources, and inhibits growth and
development. Official SAPS statistics show that the annual detection rate in respect of reported fraud
cases was 35.77% in 2014/15 and 34.08% in 2015/16. Although the detection rates for serious
commercial crime are reported as 94.8% for 2014/15 and 96.75% for 2015/16, it is likely that these
figures are inaccurate and, in reality, much lower. This article provides an overview of the reported
incidence of commercial crime, assesses the detection rate reported by the SAPS, and seeks to
determine how it can be improved.
Trevor Budhram and Nicolaas Geldenhuys*
budhrt@unisa.ac.za
geldenhuysndc@gmail.com
http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2413-3108/2017/v0n61a2046
Commercial crime has a profound impact
on the economy, trade and society at large.
Individuals, businesses, organisations and
government suffer the consequences of these
crimes, which are committed for financial gain
and include fraud, theft, forgery, corruption, tax
evasion, embezzlement, money laundering and
racketeering, as well as facilitating, receiving and
possessing the proceeds of crime. However,
the relative lack of attention to and authoritative
criminal sanction of commercial crimes in
South Africa are of great concern. For example,
various cartels that have colluded in price-
fixing and related corruption in the food, steel
and construction industries in recent years,
have merely received administrative penalties.1
Furthermore, as will be seen from this article,
commercial crime is under-reported, and the
limitations of official statistics remain a challenge.
This article reviews the data on commercial crime
in South Africa, assesses its detection by police,
and considers how it can be better tackled.
Commercial crime
The concept of commercial crime is closely
related to white-collar crime, financial crime and
economic crime. The term white-collar crime
was coined by sociologist Edwin H Sutherland in
1939 and is defined as ‘crimes committed by a
person of respectability and high social status in
the course of his occupation’2 In 1970 Edelhertz
extended the definition of white-collar criminality
to include any ‘illegal act or series of illegal
acts committed by nonphysical means and by
concealment or guile, to obtain money
or property, to avoid the payment or loss of
money or property, or to obtain business or
personal advantage’.3
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