Safety and security minister Steve Tshwete’s priority for the year will be to contribute towards the president’s vision of a humane society where ‘peace, security and dignity will replace crime, fraud, corruption and lawlessness’.

No small change:
The 2000/2001 criminal justice budget?

Although crime levels increased between 1998 and 1999, spending on criminal justice decreased in real terms according to the 2000/2001 budget. Over the past five years the SAPS has received the least actual increase in its budget of all the criminal justice departments.

Measure for measure
The reconstructing of the department for safety and security?

The reconstructing of the department for safety and security signals a deliberate shift in departmental interests, away from longer term policy development to a quicker, hard and fast operational response to dealing with crime.

Checking fraud

Fraud costs the banking industry about R4 billion a year. Much of this can be attributed to cheque fraud. Tighter monitoring and controls over those handling cheques and a move towards electronic banking are needed to counter this.

In the line of fire:
The impact of firearms on the outcome of a robbery?

An analysis of police dockets reveals that an armed robbery victim is not necessarily safer than an unarmed one. Unarmed robbery victims have a greater chance of having their possessions stolen, while armed victims have a greater chance of being injured by their assailants.