This is according to the Statistics SA’s Victims of Crime 2018/2019 report released by statistician-general Risenga Maluleke in Pretoria last year.
Aside from drug-related crimes and unspecified types of theft, the most common type of crime in South Africa is house break-ins, where around 625 cases on average are reported to the SAPS daily.
In his book, Home Invasion: Robbers disclose what you should know, Professor Rudolph Zinn gives inside information about how convicted perpetrators planned and executed house burglaries.
Zinn is a senior lecturer in forensic and crime investigation at Unisa and states that many burglars prefer targets in neighbourhoods that had many entrance and exit points with easy access to the property.
What burglars do not want you to know is that you may unknowlingly provide easy access to your property by putting your dustbin out at night for garbage collection the next day. Wheelie bins can be used as a perfect step ladder to get over a wall or fence.
Security companies have also warned that while it may seem logical to put your wheelie dustbin on the pavement the night before collection, it is in fact a security risk and there is a real threat of you becoming a target.
Another security risk is recyclers who want to have first-pickings of the dustbin contents. They are entering suburbs during the night and early mornings and as a result, many bins are being bumped over and left blocking driveways. As a result, residents leaving their houses in the morning are then forced to exit their vehicles to move the bins, thus exposing them to potential hijackings.
A third security risk is the fact that dustbins also provide a good hiding place for hijackers who may target residents returning from work in the evenings.
A dustbin left standing on the pavement is a dead give-a-way that there is nobody home. Ask a neighbour or friend to return your dustbin if you know you will not be at home and remember to never put anything in your dustbin that has your details on it. Always shred confidential information.
