People don’t feel safe in South Africa. Not on the road, not at the office, not at home and nowadays not even at church. According to an article published by News24, nearly 70% of South Africans feel unsafe at night. It is sad to say that crime is not getting better in South Africa. Burglars are not even afraid of the Justice System and the law anymore.
According to research extracts published by crimestatssa.com conducted by Dr Rudolph Zinn from UNISA, the average robber commits 103 robberies over a period of seven years before getting caught. He also reports that the conviction rate for house robberies in SA is below 8% versus for example the USA where it is 53%.
Especially in South Africa, burglars also don’t have any respect for human lives. Most won’t hesitate to hurt you or to shoot. It is up to you to safeguard your loved ones and your belongings. It’s time you start thinking like a criminal when reviewing your premises whether it is at the business or home. Prevent becoming a victim. Dr Zinn’s research indicated the following:
• Robbers are armed – An alarming 97% of all robbers are armed with a weapon of some sort.
• Inside information – 8 out of 10 residential robberies are committed with inside information either from a former employee, gardener or domestic worker.
• Response times – robbers and gangs research and tests armed response times.
• Robbers watch you – robbers will watch your, house and routines for about two weeks before striking.
• Displaying wealth – Bulk of the victims are people who openly display their wealth like expensive cars, jewellery etc.
• Robbers choose times when victims are distracted – Most of the attacks happen between 19h00-00h00. People are distracted and more relaxed because they cook, watch TV or get ready for bed. During this phase of the evening, alarms and beams are usually turned off and especially during summer times front doors are left open to cool off. It is then when a strong physical security barrier should be in place. That is your last line of defense and warning system. This will make it difficult for a perpetrator to enter your home without you being alerted.
• Women are more at risk. – They get tortured or seriously hurt more often than men during house robberies.
Robbers know where to look and know all the normal hiding spots. Depending on the motive for the house robbery, burglars will normally go straight for the expensive things they can resell or that will bring in fast money. Things like prescribed meds, firearms, technology, and jewellery and yes obviously cash are the things they mainly steal because they know the value. Some criminals do have taste and know the value of sport collectables or fine wines.
In the extract of Dr. Zinn’s findings it is noted that robbers are not discouraged to rob a house when there is an alarm or armed reaction services. He says that security measures that they do consider obstacles are CCTV, detection beams, electric fences, formidable physical barriers, and the biggest of all are small dogs inside the house.
Maxidor SA believes that physical security is your last line of defence and can also act as a warning system. It buys you the time you need to react. Always have a security gate at the outside doors, burglar bars on the windows and retractable gates with a slamlock system as part of the inscape you should create to safeguard your family while they sleep.
A wide variety of products can be viewed on the website www.maxidor.co.za but a skilled safety consultant does a full free security assessment of your premises and highlights areas that need securing. Contact 0860 131 131 for assistance and an obligation free quote.

*Sources:
https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/nearly-70-of-south-africans-feel-unsafe-at-night-stats-sa-20170214
https://www.crimestatssa.com/SA%20Residential%20robbery%20research.pdf
https://compareguru.co.za/news/think-like-burglar-avoid-becoming-victim