{"id":837990,"date":"2025-09-22T16:18:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T14:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=837990"},"modified":"2025-09-22T16:21:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T14:21:12","slug":"100-individuals-cause-a-large-percentage-of-all-violent-crime-in-gauteng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/837990\/100-individuals-cause-a-large-percentage-of-all-violent-crime-in-gauteng\/","title":{"rendered":"100 individuals cause a large percentage of all violent crime in Gauteng"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr Frans Cronje revealed that around 100 individuals cause a large percentage of all violent crime in Gauteng, and the police know who they are and where they live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cronje is an independent political and economic analyst and scenario planner, and one of South Africa\u2019s most respected voices on social issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told delegates at the Biznews Conference<\/a> that an expert in the field of crime said arresting the top 100 criminals in Gauteng would significantly reduce crime in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that it is no secret who they are and where they live. \u201cTheir whereabouts and addresses are known,\u201d Cronje said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that arresting these violent criminals would be a simple matter for the South African Police Service (SAPS) to perform its function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShould these criminals be arrested, it would slash the serious and violent crime rates in the Gauteng province,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cronje said it shows that a very small number of individuals are responsible for the great majority of serious and violent crimes that happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is not the case of a mass of murderous people stalking the streets in South Africa and causing mayhem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous comments from the National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa (NPA) and the Gauteng Premier align with Cronje\u2019s statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi stated that they have identified and profiled 422 kingpins responsible for the worst crimes in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese 442 kingpins are responsible for cash-in-transits, kidnapping, hijackings, rented murder, ATM bombings, blue-light gangs and business robberies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NPA stated that the fight against crime, and especially organised crime, should focus on disrupting the activities of a relatively small number of individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The individuals who should receive the most attention are serial offenders, organised crime kingpins, and those involved in grand corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it admitted that it is not easy as these targeted offenders have deep pockets, wily lawyers and powerful friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A small number of individuals cause a large percentage of serious crime<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This situation is not unique to South Africa. Similar trends are seen in numerous countries and cities across the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Atlanta Police Department, for example, said 1,000 repeat offenders are responsible for 40% of all crime committed in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2013 academic study confirmed that a small number of persistent violent offenders perpetrate the majority of violent crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These persistent violent offenders are typically males, characterised by early onset of violent criminality, substance abuse, personality disorders, and nonviolent criminality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar study in South Africa showed that there is strong evidence that repeat offenders and those involved in gangs represent a disproportionate share of violent crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gang membership is a recurring factor among the offenders with more serious or more frequent violent offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also a high spatial concentration when it comes to violent crime, with a small number of police areas generating a high share of violent crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In South Africa, the pattern of recidivism, the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend, is very high. Simply put, many individuals don\u2019t commit a crime just once but persist over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Institute for Security Studies said that highly flexible groups are at the epicentre of organised crime in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It gave the example of the spate of 2014 mall robberies in South Africa, which were all linked to three main networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSpecialised law enforcement agencies are acutely aware that these highly flexible groups are at the epicentre of organised crime,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr Frans Cronje revealed that around 100 individuals cause a large percentage of all violent crime in Gauteng, and the police know who they are and where they live.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":777829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[23640,1910,21863],"class_list":["post-837990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-biznews-conference","tag-crime","tag-frans-cronje"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837990"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":837994,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837990\/revisions\/837994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}