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Guy Lamb, Criminologist / Lecturer, Stellenbosch University

Robberies surge as criminals take advantage of South Africa's power outages

AFP via Getty Images

The acute energy crisis in South Africa has adversely affected all aspects of the society. Regular and lengthy power outages – which started in 2007 are also contributing to an escalation in the levels of criminal activity, especially street crime. The most recent quarterly crime statistics – have undermined an ailing economy and food security, as well as health and educational outcomes.

It has become evident that power cuts added to a significant increase in all robbery categories – for July to September 2022 – compared to the same period in 2021. This corresponded with the most severe power cuts the country had ever experienced.

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