Cape Town - Ongoing violence in communities has had a major impact on businesses in the Western Cape.
A survey of businesses has shown that 78% of respondents were absent from work and 80% knew someone who was late for work as a result of violence.
The survey also showed how violence in communities affected the viability of doing business in the province.
The annual survey on the “Impact of Violence on Business” commissioned by BNP Paribas South Africa and its consumer finance arm, RCS, has shown that violence against businesses has increased exponentially.
Released on Tuesday, the survey focused on the experiences of more than 500 individuals living in 31 high crime areas, including Nyanga, as well as corporate respondents and trainers from the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative.
The survey noted that in 2021, incidents of physical violence increased from 38% to 59%, while incidents resulting in physical injury increased from 27% last year to 53% this year.
Of those surveyed, 80% reported feeling unsafe in their neighbourhood, which is an increase of 19% from last year, with 53% of respondents having felt the impact of violence.
Meanwhile 90% of corporates said that community violence negatively impacted the career growth of employees, while a 20% rate of absenteeism was reported over the past 12 months.
A conflict between the Cata and Codeta minibus taxi associations, which lasted more than two weeks in July, brought the business sector to a grinding halt as employees were left stranded.
Coupled with the losses caused by Covid-19 lockdowns, a number of small and medium businesses were hardest hit by the looting and civil unrest, with delivery trucks hijacked. This was in addition to extortion reports where business owners in the metro are allegedly required by groups of gangsters to pay “protection fees”.
HR executive at RCS, Sandi Richardson, said while the survey looked at the impact of violence caused by unemployment in businesses, there were factors the survey did not explore.
“During these times when violence is particularly bad, businesses incur additional costs in providing extra security and safe transport for staff.”
Cape BPO chief executive Clayton Williams said while Cape Town businesses were not severely impacted by the looting witnessed in Johannesburg and Durban, local businesses were greatly affected by the taxi violence two weeks later.
Williams said the vast majority of employees working within the city were heavily reliant on taxis as their primary mode of transport and could not afford to make use of buses and e-hailing services.
Williams said when some of these issues started to affect businesses, government and private sector assistance was sought to come up with creative solutions on how to minimise losses and mitigate risks.
Criminologist and Stellenbosch University political science lecturer Guy Lamb said crime was not entirely caused by unemployment, but there were different factors at play.
He said businesses that were operating in high-risk areas had opted to enter into agreements with certain groups that were providing protection. Lamb said this was currently a booming “business” which was happening in Cape Town more than other areas.
mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za