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With the economic shoe getting tighter all the time, shop managers in Hermanus say shoplifting has become a plague.

According to the interim findings of SME Survey 2008, the latest edition of South Africa's largest annual survey of small, medium and micro enterprises, one in four small businesses in South Africa has been a victim of crime more than once in the past year.

The manager of Ackermans who came to Hermanus in March this year says that there is a definite increase in shoplifting. “The police tell us that a case can't be opened against a shoplifter unless he or she is caught in possession of the merchandise and is already past the security checkpoint.&3148

She says that shops in the area rely heavily on security firms and the Hermanus Police Protection (HPP) to catch shoplifters.

According to the manager at the Mr Price clothing store, HPP officers recently caught shoplifters with a bag full of merchandise from various shops in the area.

“The shoplifters usually work in teams which make it even more difficult to catch them,&3148 she says.

Volunteers working at the Hospice Shop are also harassed by “teams of professional criminals” and agree that shoplifting is a huge problem and difficult to curb as it is not easy to catch a person in the act.

Being a charity shop they cannot afford security cameras and employees are now forced to “play policeman”. Since the shop's opening they have managed to catch two people stealing. On both occasions the shoplifters were detained in the shop while ADT was alerted. All employees in the shop carry panic buttons on them at all times.

HPP officers were also very helpful and took photographs of the shoplifters to keep on file. According to one volunteer the woman they caught was employed in town. She says she does not believe the reason for the increase in shoplifting is desperation, but rather the fact that criminals know they can get away with it. No official charges were laid but should the same persons be caught shoplifting again the matter will be taken further.

One volunteer commented that she is shocked at these criminals' lack of morality, stealing from a shop that aims to raise funds to care for people dying of cancer.

Snr Supt Phumzile Cetyana, commissioner of the Hermanus police station says incidents of petty crime are increasing all the time. “Shoplifting is a crime and when we do catch someone in the act it is a straightforward arrest,” he says. “But unless we have adhered to the letter of the law, shoplifting cases are thrown out of court.&3148

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