The commissioner delivered the keynote address at the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa's Summit being held in Johannesburg on Wednesday morning.
Commissioner Phiyega said both she and the Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa - at the recent release of crime statistics - emphasised the need to engage with the private sector and ensure that existing partnerships are sustained and that new partnerships are initiated.
"Where new crime patterns emerge which are focused on a certain industry, it is necessary for the South African Police Service to constructively engage with the stakeholders in that environment. This type of focused engagement has proved to be extremely useful in addressing, and to a large degree, decreasing particular crime trends."
Commissioner Phiyega lauded the role of the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) for its on-going role in fighting crime.
"The Consumer Goods Council is playing an active role in a priority committee established by the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure, the NATJOINTS. This priority committee includes other partners, such as the Road Freight Association and the Petroleum Security industry and has met fortnightly for over a year. Cooperation between the NATJOINTS and the CGCSA is outstanding and we would want to see similar, regular interactions taking place in all nine provinces."
She also said the CGCSA and the insurance industry could play a vital role in preventing goods truck hijackings which increased by 14.9% in the 2012/2013 financial year. Many of the goods stolen during these hijackings end up in many shops across the country and some to the neighbouring countries such as Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Swaziland.
"A new trend that is emerging, which we as management are not particularly proud of, is the involvement of some of our police officers. This is a huge concern for us and we are hard at work to root out these corrupt elements from within our midst," the Commissioner added.
Shoplifting, she added, remained a serious crime. Between five retailers - Shoprite, Pick 'n Pay, Massmart, Spar and Woolworths - between two and three billion rand is lost annually due to shoplifting.
"We, the SAPS, have recognised the need to investigate the real possibility of organised syndicates being behind a large majority of shoplifting incidents. It will be necessary to bring other departments, organisations and businesses on board to comprehensively address this matter in a coordinated manner."
CGCSA chief executive Gwarega Mangozhe said the Commissioner's comments on the role played by the CGCSA were welcomed.
"We will continue to work with the police to fight crime in the retail sector. We have already developed various initiatives aimed at doing just this. It is only, however, with the help of the police and through summit's such as these, which highlight best practices, that we will succeed."
The CGCSA summit, themed "Energising the Industry- Building Sustainable Businesses in the New Normal", is in its second and final day and is being held at The Forum, Bryanston, Johannesburg.
