{"id":839928,"date":"2025-10-19T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=839928"},"modified":"2025-10-17T17:33:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T15:33:49","slug":"new-target-for-criminals-now-firmly-entrenched-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/839928\/new-target-for-criminals-now-firmly-entrenched-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"New target for criminals now firmly entrenched in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The SAPS have raised alarm over a growing trend of criminals targeting churches and their congregants, with several robberies reported in recent weeks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem first came to light in 2024 as reports of armed robberies during worship services began surfacing in multiple provinces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cultural, Religious and Linguistic (CRL) Rights Commission also sounded the alarm last year, warning that criminals were increasingly preying on churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It noted that while attacks on congregants were not entirely new, the scale and brazenness of these crimes were escalating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Criminals often enter church services posing as worshippers, taking advantage of the quiet and trusting atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the congregation is engaged in prayer or worship, they brandish weapons and use intimidation to seize cash, smartphones, and other valuables. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Churches are particularly attractive targets because they collect cash offerings, and congregants often carry personal items, such as phones and wallets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one incident earlier this year, armed robbers stormed a Sunday service in Gauteng, holding worshippers at gunpoint before fleeing with cash, phones, and jewellery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar attack occurred in KwaZulu-Natal during a weekday prayer meeting, where congregants were forced to lie face down as criminals looted their belongings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape have seen the highest number of such cases. Still, incidents are now being reported in other regions as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mpumalanga, in particular, has experienced a worrying rise in church robberies, prompting urgent intervention from the police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mpumalanga Police Spokesperson Brigadier Donald Mdluli said the attacks, which involve armed suspects robbing congregants of their phones, cash, and vehicles during services, have become a major concern. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, we have registered these cases, which are a concern for us. The Acting Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga has ordered all station commanders to engage with faith-based organisations to find ways of working together to curb these incidents,\u201d Mdluli said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Mdluli, police have been meeting with church leaders in areas such as KaNyamazane, eMalahleni, and Mkhuhlu to strengthen collaboration and develop preventive measures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that criminals see churches as easy targets because worshippers are unarmed and often distracted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organised groups <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mdluli also appealed to communities not to support the trade in stolen goods. \u201cWhen criminals steal from churchgoers, they usually sell the items quickly\u2014maybe an iPhone for a cheap price,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you buy that, you\u2019re encouraging them because it creates a market for crime. We\u2019re discouraging people from buying suspected stolen property and urging them to report anyone found with suspicious items.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police have made some progress in combating the trend. \u201cWe\u2019ve arrested several suspects involved in church robberies in eMalahleni and also recovered stolen vehicles in KaNyamazane,\u201d Mdluli said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn one case, three suspects who robbed a church were arrested, and we are still pursuing others.\u201d He noted that while some of the attacks are opportunistic, others appear to be carefully coordinated.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur preliminary findings show that organised groups carry out some of these incidents, while others are spur-of-the-moment crimes,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey know that people in churches are relaxed and carrying valuables. Sometimes they enter in groups, fire shots to scare congregants, and then rob them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He confirmed that patrols and intelligence-driven operations have been intensified in affected areas. \u201cWe\u2019ve been working hard in the Mkhuhlu area.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter the first robbery, we arrested some suspects and recovered stolen vehicles and handbags, although some money and phones have not yet been found. We\u2019re intensifying our patrols to prevent further attacks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mdluli stressed that tackling this problem requires collective effort. \u201cThis can be a war we can win if we work collaboratively,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The SAPS have raised alarm over a growing trend of criminals targeting churches and their congregants, with several robberies reported in recent weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":839950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[21276,853,5784],"class_list":["post-839928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-church","tag-south-africa","tag-south-african-police-service-saps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839928","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\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839928"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":839942,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839928\/revisions\/839942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}