The South African Police Service (SAPS) struggles to protect victims from commercial crime
that threatens the economy, corrodes scarce and valuable resources, and inhibits growth and
development. Official SAPS statistics show that the annual detection rate in respect of reported fraud
cases was 35.77% in 2014/15 and 34.08% in 2015/16. Although the detection rates for serious
commercial crime are reported as 94.8% for 2014/15 and 96.75% for 2015/16, it is likely that these
figures are inaccurate and, in reality, much lower. This article provides an overview of the reported
incidence of commercial crime, assesses the detection rate reported by the SAPS, and seeks to
determine how it can be improved.