Understanding policing of cybe-rcrime in South Africa: The phenomena, challenges and effective responses

Abstract

Cybercrime continues to be a detrimental problem in South Africa and continues to change in nature and sophistication. Innovations and technological advancements aimed at moving the world towards a digital age increase the risks of cybercrime. Concurrently, as the risk of cybercrime increases so does the challenge to police it. The policing of cybercrime is generally an afterthought for several organisations and individuals in South Africa. This type of crime has no regional, national or international boundaries, unlike “traditional crime” which has physical boundaries and limits in relation to jurisdiction. This contributes towards the challenge of detecting, investigating and combating it. Cyber criminals have intercepted vital and essential government, personal and business information online. Therefore, the primary objective of this paper is to explore the obstacles/challenges that hamper the effective and efficient policing of cybercrime in Durban, South Africa. A qualitative research approach was adopted, to explore the challenges of policing of cybercrime in the study area. The findings collected through semi-structured interviews with a total number of twenty (20) participants comprising of SAPS Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) officials, members of Bowline Security and members of the Durban community; suggest that there is a shortage of SAPS officials who are knowledgeable in handling cybercrime related cases. Policies and strategies to police cybercrime in Durban are insufficient because of the lack of resources, to adequately implement policy and promote cooperative strategic partnerships. Together, these findings suggest that all relevant stakeholder organisations should assist in minimising the challenge of policing of cybercrime.