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flag South Africa's commercial crime nearly doubled since 2013, with underreporting and poor data transparency obscuring its true scale.

flag Commercial crime in South Africa has nearly doubled since 2013/14, rising from 76,744 to 143,600 cases by 2024/25, with a sharp acceleration since 2020/21, according to police data. flag Despite this rapid growth—second only to kidnapping—commercial crime receives little public or political attention. flag The South African Police Service does not release detailed data, and the Hawks, the country’s elite crime unit, report only 1,461 cases, far below industry estimates of over two million banking-related incidents annually. flag A single “other fraud” category reports R396-billion in losses from fewer than 1,000 cases, raising concerns about data accuracy and classification. flag Experts cite widespread underreporting, inconsistent categorization, and systemic gaps in tracking and prosecution, leaving the true scale of the crisis obscured and accountability weak.

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