Theft is a global problem. This is true in South Africa. A big part of the country’s theft problem comes from employees working inside the home. A tight economy, rising food prices and transport costs have contributed to an increase in theft by domestic workers.

The crimes covered a wide range, including theft of money or jewelry and staged break-ins to more sophisticated crimes such as passing on information taken from bank statements and financial documents to syndicates. As reported in www.iol.co.za.

I am sure we all are aware this happens here in America too.

Officials in South Africa are rightly placing the blame on the increase in “domestic dishonesty” down to a combination of the pressures of a tight economy as well as old-fashioned greed.

There has got to be a better way. Don’t you think? Stealing is wrong and morally repugnant. It also creates bad karma which only makes things worse.

One thing homeowners should do to prevent unpleasant situations is to lock away valuables and not leave money lying around. According to Statistics South Africa, more than 1 million people work as domestic workers in South Africa. Domestic theft cases are up a whopping 70% over the same period last year.

I hope that South Africa implements online theft prevention education to get a handle on this growing problem.