Criminals

The City of Cape Town is paying people to report crime. Image via Pexels

Snitches get rich: City of Cape Town pays R5000 for reporting criminals

‘One lady quickly realised there was an income stream to be garnered’: The Informant Reward System is fighting crime in the Mother City.

Criminals

The City of Cape Town is paying people to report crime. Image via Pexels

The City of Cape Town is cracking down on crime by rewarding those who report wrongdoers.

According to Cape Talk, the Informant Reward System has a dedicated line for those who are willing to do good in society by snitching on their criminal neighbours.

SNITCH ON CRIMINALS AND GET PAID R5000

The initiative was launched in October 2013 and at the time, the reward was R1000. This year, the figure has gone up a few rands and sits at a solid R5000.

And the good thing is that informants do not have to testify to claim their rewards, just as long as the information leads to an arrest or the recovery of stolen goods or contraband. In addition, an informant may also choose to remain anonymous.

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THE CITY HAS MADE A NUMBER OF ARRESTS

According to Safety MMC JP Smith, the City has already made several arrests and recoveries based on tipoffs.

“We created this specifically in relation to drug and firearm tipoffs… If it helps us get a gun off the street, we’re happy,” he said.

Smith also revealed that there’s one lady who is a regular informant and she makes quite a bit of money from it.

“We issue a few hundred rewards per year… We get a steady stream of firearm tipoffs and regular dumping informants. One lady quickly realised there was an income stream to be garnered… She started taking photographs… useful for us.

“There are people who regularly give tipoffs where the reward incentivises good behaviour, we’re happy to pay for it,” Smith explained.