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SAPS recorded 10,721 burglaries at business premises from April to June 2026, only 1.5% fewer than a year earlier, while robbery at business premises fell 11.8% to 2,733. For commercial sites, the figures say the after-hours break-in is still the stubborn risk, so cameras, perimeter detection and monitored response need to work as one system.
This briefing reads the South African Police Service's first-quarter 2026/27 statistics, released on 28 August 2026, through the lens of integrated security solutions: CCTV, access control, offsite monitoring and the analytics that link them.
Key numbers
- 10,721 burglaries at non-residential premises, April to June 2026, down 1.5% (SAPS)
- 2,733 robberies at non-residential premises, April to June 2026, down 11.8% (SAPS)
- 2,330 business burglaries in Gauteng, April to June 2026, up 5.5% (SAPS)
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The SAPS first-quarter statistics for 2026/27 compare April to June 2026 with the same three months of 2025. Business robbery, which SAPS records as robbery at non-residential premises, fell from 3,099 to 2,733 cases, and the Acting Minister of Police, Firoz Cachalia, named business robberies among the crimes with "significant reductions". Business burglary, recorded as burglary at non-residential premises, fell only from 10,882 to 10,721. (SAPS, crime statistics, first quarter 2026/27)
Over a longer view, both are well down: business burglary has fallen 27% since April to June 2022 (14,677 cases) and business robbery 48% (5,281 cases). The slowdown in burglary this year, and its rise in Gauteng, are what matter for planning.
| Business crime, April to June | 2025 | 2026 | Change | Security layer that addresses it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary at non-residential premises | 10,882 | 10,721 | −1.5% | Perimeter detection, monitored CCTV, after-hours alerts |
| Robbery at non-residential premises | 3,099 | 2,733 | −11.8% | Access control, panic alerts, verified monitoring |
| Commercial crime | 36,011 | 36,038 | +0.1% | POS-linked CCTV, access and audit logs |
| Theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 7,523 | 6,994 | −7.0% | Number plate recognition (ANPR) at gates |
| Truck hijacking | 414 | 327 | −21.0% | Gate control, ANPR, monitored yards |
By province, for business premises (April to June 2026 against 2025):
| Province | Burglary | Change | Robbery | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gauteng | 2,330 | +5.5% | 920 | −6.9% |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 1,509 | −4.7% | 471 | −11.6% |
| Western Cape | 1,212 | −6.1% | 176 | +6.0% |
| Eastern Cape | 1,369 | +1.3% | 270 | −19.6% |
How the changes were worked out: each percentage compares the SAPS counts for April to June 2026 with April to June 2025 in the same release.
What does it mean for integrated security?
CCTV and perimeter detection
Burglary is mostly an after-hours, empty-site crime, which is why a falling robbery rate has not been matched by burglary. Cameras that only record show what happened the next morning; cameras with perimeter analytics raise an alert while someone is still at the fence, which is when it can be stopped. See AI CCTV and video analytics.
Offsite monitoring
A 40-year review of 76 CCTV evaluations found that actively monitored systems were associated with significant crime reductions, while systems that only record were not. (Piza et al. (2019), via CrimeSolutions) For a business with a burglary risk, that is the case for connecting cameras and alarms to a 24/7 CCTV monitoring control room rather than relying on recordings.
Access control
Robbery happens when people are on site, so it is controlled at the door: who can enter, when, and through which route. Access control systems with time zones, an interlocked cash or stock room and a panic alert linked to the control room reduce the moments when a robbery can succeed.
Linking the systems
Commercial crime, which includes fraud, did not fall at all. Linking till and stock data to camera footage, and access logs to the doors they record, gives the audit trail that fraud investigations need.
What should businesses do now?
- Check what happens when an alarm or camera triggers after hours: who sees it, and how fast.
- Add perimeter detection to the fence line or yard if cameras only record.
- In Gauteng especially, review after-hours cover, given the 5.5% rise in business burglary.
- Put access control on stock rooms, cash offices and server rooms, with time zones for staff.
- Link panic buttons and door alarms to the monitoring control room.
- Test backup power, so cameras and alarms stay up during outages.
- Bring CCTV, access control and alarms onto integrated security solutions run by one accountable provider.
For choosing that provider, see our guide on how to choose a security integrator, and for the cost of monitored cover, what offsite CCTV monitoring costs per month. Factories planning a shutdown should read integrated security for factories.
Sources
- South African Police Service, crime statistics, first quarter 2026/27 (April to June 2026)
- SAPS POLICE magazine, special issue on the first-quarter 2026/27 crime statistics, August 2026
- Piza et al. (2019), CCTV surveillance for crime prevention, via CrimeSolutions
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