This dissertation focuses on the phenomenon of copper cable theft within the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Data was collected from literature sources as well as from security professionals combating copper theft. There are five primary objectives in this research: 1. To explore and to describe the extent and the impact of copper cable theft. 2. To gain insight into the profile and the modus operandi of the offender. 3. To evaluate current intervention measures used to combat the copper cable theft. 4. To describe the general factors limiting the success of combating copper cable theft. 5. To recommend probable intervention measures with which to combat copper cable theft. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with responsible security officials of victim stakeholder groups in Gauteng. It was established that copper cable theft is currently a very serious crime that deserves both attention and quick intervention before it does irreparable damage to the utility infrastructure of Gauteng, in particular, and in fact to all these infrastructures in South Africa. / Criminology / M.A. (Criminology)

This dissertation focuses on the phenomenon of copper cable theft within the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Data was collected from literature sources as well as from security professionals combating copper theft. There are five primary objectives in this research: 1. To explore and to describe the extent and the impact of copper cable theft. 2. To gain insight into the profile and the modus operandi of the offender. 3. To evaluate current intervention measures used to combat the copper cable theft. 4. To describe the general factors limiting the success of combating copper cable theft. 5. To recommend probable intervention measures with which to combat copper cable theft. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with responsible security officials of victim stakeholder groups in Gauteng. It was established that copper cable theft is currently a very serious crime that deserves both attention and quick intervention before it does irreparable damage to the utility infrastructure of Gauteng, in particular, and in fact to all these infrastructures in South Africa. / Criminology and Security Science / M.A. (Criminology)

Text in English / The goals of this research were to explore, describe and explain the crime of associated robbery, which at the time of this study, was a scientifically unknown phenomenon. Associated robbery is defined as “a bank-related robbery (by association) of cash or attempt thereto, committed against a bank client or his/her delegate, at any stage while en-route to or from a bank branch, ATM or cash centre or inside the branch to effect a deposit, or, withdrawal” (SABRIC 2013:4) This robbery is divided into two main categories, namely robbery before cash deposit and robbery after cash withdrawal. As found in literature and also evident in the findings of this study, more incidents and related cash losses are reported from robbery after withdrawal, which is sub-divided into muti scam, money bomb and spiked drink. This study followed an exploratory, sequential, mixed-method research approach where the qualitative phase took place first – followed by the quantitative phase. The topic was firstly explored by collecting qualitative data via in-depth, one-on-one interviews (from a phenomenological point of view) where mutual meaning was sought, as understood by victims of associated robbery. To gather quantitative data, 500 bank clients (i.e. individuals, small business owners and stokvel/saving club members) completed a survey questionnaire. Their perspective on the phenomenon of associated robbery was thus explained and described through the use of descriptive statistics, particularly univariate and bivariate statistical analysis. The most significant contribution made by this study, is embedment of the preventative measures used by the banking industry and other stakeholders such as the SAPS into the Situational Crime Prevention (SCP) and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles approaches. This model is heavily grounded on 12 SCP strategies, namely: access control; deflecting offenders; controlling facilitation; entry/exist screening; formal surveillance; surveillance by employees; natural surveillance; target removal; reducing temptation; rule setting; stimulating conscience; and facilitating compliance. Furthermore, the model emphasises that the combating of associated robberies is a collaborative effort and thus the individual (bank client), the banking industry, the criminal justice system (CJS) and the general public all have to work together in fighting this endemic. The lack of knowledge mainly from a victim’s perspective was identified as one of the challenges faced. However, this presented an opportunity for this study to make a significant contribution to the development of scientific literature. Moreover, the use of opportunity theories to explain the reasons why individuals are victimised placed the phenomenon in the criminological research milieu – thus pioneering a way for researchers who may wish to conduct future research on the same topic. / Criminology and Security Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Criminology)