Safety and security was supported by 3% of companies and received an average CSI spend of 0.4%, making it the least supported sector in 2022. Support for the sector has dropped significantly since 2010, when 21% of companies supported it.
CSI spend on safety and security has decreased across the board. This may in part be a result of a reduction in spending on awareness campaigns run at school and community level during the pandemic. It may also be due to more strategic funding decisions, which may have migrated into job creation and education as systemic ways of improving safety and security.
Target beneficiaries
- National anti-crime/safety campaigns initiatives received the largest share of average CSI safety and security spend (40%) from the three companies who funded this sector, followed by community police forums (23%) and road safety (20%).
The changing landscape of safety and security in South Africa
– The 1997/98 police and related functions budget was approximately R13 billion, or 7% of consolidated government expenditure of R190 million. – Business Against Crime was established in 1996 in response to a request from then President Nelson Mandela who invited business to join hands with government in the fight against crime. Business Against Crime South Africa (BACSA) is now a division of Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA).
– The National Crime Prevention Strategy was released as a long-term programme to create conditions that would reduce the motivation and opportunities for crime, while also transforming the criminal justice system’s capacity to handle crime.
– World Bank data indicates a murder/homicide rate of 60.3 per 100 000 people.
– The White Paper on Safety and Security 1998 aimed for real reductions in crime to be attained through more effective policing as part of an effective justice system, and a greater ability to prevent crime.
– A survey for the period 1990–2000 compiled by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime ranked South Africa second for assault and murder (by all means) per capita and first for rapes per capita in a data set of 60 countries. Total crime per capita was 10th out of the 60 countries in the dataset.
– The Services Charter for Victims of Crimes in South Africa, also known as the Victims’ Charter, was an important instrument for promoting justice for victims of crime in South Africa.
– Dedicated Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offenses (FCS) units were reintroduced in nine provinces, with more than 2 100 detectives assigned to them nationwide.
– A National Rural Safety Strategy was implemented to ensure an effective approach to service delivery in rural communities, which faced challenges such as increased farm attacks and murders, high levels of poverty and underdevelopment, dispersed spatial living, and isolated and under-resourced police stations.
– World Bank data indicates a significantly lower murder/ homicide rate of 31 per 100 000 people.
– The 2011 Integrated Social Crime Strategy aims to curb the effects of the underlying causes of crime, reduce the risk of becoming a victim, raise the safety of the community as a whole, and thus improve quality of life and human rights.
– The 2011 Community Safety Forums (CSFs) Policy outlined that CSFs need to be established to target the root causes of crime at national, provincial and local level.
– The White Paper on Safety and Security was released to promote an integrated approach to safety and security. It affirmed the need for civil society and the private sector to contribute to the government’s ongoing safety, crime and violence prevention efforts.
– World Bank data indicates a murder/homicide rate of 33.4 per 100 000 people.
– There were approximately 235 prison facilities in South Africa. – The Domestic Violence Amendment Act, 2021 (Act No. 14 of 2021) amended the Domestic Violence Act of 1998 and addressed practical challenges, gaps and anomalies since the Act became operational in 1999.
– In the 2022/23 national budget, R220,7 billion was allocated toward peace and security (with R110 billion of that for police services), constituting 10% of consolidated government expenditure of R2.1 trillion.
– Cabinet approved the Integrated Crome and Violence Prevention Strategy (ICVPS) for implementation of the White Paper on Safety and Security adopted in 2016.
