The BACSA - Vision and Mission

[Last Updated : 22 March 2009]

Business Against Crime South Africa (BACSA), established in 1996 in a response to a call from the then President Mandela for the business community to become involved in the fight against crime, has the following Vision and Mission:

The BACSA Vision

One of Government’s strategic partners, in leveraging a rapid and substantial reduction in crime, to enable a safe and secure South Africa.

The BACSA Mission Statement

To support and to influence Government to rapidly and substantially reduce the levels of crime in South Africa:

• Through gaining a deep level of understanding of, and contributing towards,     Government’s overarching strategic objectives and priorities;  
• Through the deployment of appropriate business skills to facilitate the enduring enhancement of structures, organisation, systems and processes in the relevant Government departments; 
• Through assisting Government to implement a carefully defined portfolio of projects which measurably improve JCPS performance and institutionalise best practices;
• Through the transfer of appropriate business and process skills relating to governance, management and leadership;
• Through mobilising businesses to enhance practices to combat crime.

BACSA Values

• Trust and honesty;
• Integrity;
• Respect and dignity;
• Professionalism; and
• Commitment.

BACSA Goals

The realisation of the Business Against Crime South Africa vision will be measured against the following goals:

• Government’s institutionalisation and maintenance of proven joint projects in the fight against crime;
• A results-driven and sustainable partnership between business, Government and communities, in the fight against crime, resulting in a growth in public confidence and the reduction of crime as reflected by the national crime statistics and crime trends.
• A significant reduction in the levels of targeted crime types measured against appropriate and agreed benchmarks; and
• Significant improvements in the effectiveness and efficiency of the Criminal Justice System such that it acts as an effective deterrent to crime, operating at levels comparable with international best practice.

Benchmarks for each goal will be established and agreed with Government so that specific targets can be set. The targets will represent the desired outcomes. It is understood that the realisation of the goals is mainly dependent on the effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System and the involvement of Business Against Crime South Africa and other role-players

The BACSA Strategic Framework

The overall strategic approach developed for the Step Change anti-crime initiative is under-pinned by the following core principles:

• The responsibility for the provision of a safe and secure environment for South Africans, visitors and businesses rests with Government;
• Partnerships between Government and business and between Government and civil society are necessary and critical in the national effort to bring down the levels of crime and violence;
• The business sector is able to make a valuable contribution in supporting Government to combat crime and the causes of crime, by initiating new thinking about the solutions, sharing and transferring knowledge regarding how to implement the solutions, and aligning and improving business practices to support Government's crime-fighting efforts. 
  

BACSA Operating Principles

The strategic framework is further informed and guided by the following, specific operating principles adopted by BACSA:

• Business Against Crime South Africa supports and leverages anti-crime projects that are afforded a high priority by Government. Such high and visible Government prioritisation must be evidenced through ownership and Government championship, visible leadership and the allocation of budgets.
• Business Against Crime South Africa avoids duplicating support efforts and endeavours to develop best practices that can be shared across projects.
• Business Against Crime South Africa mobilises business resources and expertise to assist Government implementation and influences Government with regard to policy changes.
• Business Against Crime South Africa identifies and assists Government in the implementation of projects, playing the role of strategic facilitator and project manager.
• Business Against Crime South Africa ensures that its involvement in project implementation is not of a permanent nature. Such involvement must be in the short-term to medium-term and should not create and/or allow for a permanent dependence on Business Against Crime South Africa by Government.
  

BACSA Critical Success Factors

The following are recognised within Business Against Crime South Africa as critical success factors for all work undertaken in partnership with Government: 

• Having a dedicated and passionate Government project champion, at political and executive levels, who commands respect within the JCPS cluster and has influence to leverage the implementation of proven initiatives;
• Having dedicated Government people with the mandate to implement the solution with sufficient budgets and control for such implementation;
• Development of a close and sound working relationship based on trust with the relevant Government political and executive champions;
• Acceptance by business leaders that Business Against Crime South Africa is the strategic partner to Government with business leaders’ confidence in the ability to influence Government towards the implementation of solutions that deliver crime reduction; and
• Maintenance of good governance and administration on par with the best practices found in the private sector. Business Against Crime South Africa enjoys the confidence of business to mobilise businesses to adopt and to implement effective standards, systems and practices to combat crime.