Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) conducted the Governance, Public Safety, and Justice Survey (GPSJS) from April 2023 to March 2024. The GPSJS is a countrywide household-based survey that aims to bridge the statistical information gap in the field of governance statistics. Some recently published key findings complement findings released by the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Household crime levels in South Africa
In 2023/24, an estimated 1.5 million incidences of housebreaking occurred, affecting 1.1 million households in South Africa. Over the last 5 years, approximately 2.6 million households experienced a burglary, with the recent report indicating the experience of housebreaking has increased 12%. Further, in less than half of these incidents (44.1%), do the households report some or all incidences to the police. House breaking incidents peaked in June, with 162 000 estimated experiences.
An estimated 263 000 home robbery incidents occurred, which are incidents where contact is made between victims and perpetrators. In these encounters, 57.6% of households reported some or all incidences to the police. A further 257 000 households experienced assault in the last five years, with a 17% increase from the previous year.
Individual crime levels in South Africa
Theft of personal property is the most common crime experienced by individuals aged 16 years and older in South Africa. Stats SA estimates 1.4 million incidents of theft of personal property occurred in 2023/24, affecting 1.3 million individuals aged 16 years and older. Only 28.5% of individuals who experienced theft of personal property reported it to the police.
The second most experienced crime by individuals was street robbery, with a total of 443 000 individuals experiencing street robbery, in an estimated 497 000 incidences. Less than half (44.2%) of the individuals reported the incident to the police. Further, 23.9% of victims were injured during their incidents and 66.0% required medical attention. Only 3.6% of the individuals that experienced street robbery received counselling.
Feelings of safety
About 80% (80.4%) of individuals aged 16 years and older felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhood during the day, while 34.9% felt safe walking alone during the night. Women reported feeling very unsafe when walking alone after dark, with 67.5% of women feeling unsafe, compared to 62.8% of men. The majority of individuals (43.8%) indicated they would call the police when witnessing a crime being committed.
Perception of the Police
A higher proportion of households know where the nearest police station is located, with the majority of households (69%) indicating they take less than 30 minutes to get to the nearest police station. More than half of the households (51.2%) indicated they have been to the police station in the past three calendar years. Only 14.7% of the households indicated that they have contacted the police by telephone. Approximately 47% of the households in South Africa think the level of crime has increased in their area. The majority of the households (59.3%) indicated they are satisfied with police services in their areas.
Perception of Courts
A lower (8.9%) proportion of households have been to court in the past 12 months and indicated the main reason for their presence was to support a family member or a friend. Only 32.5% of the households think that the sentences served for violent crimes are long enough. About 69% of households does not think sentences served for Gender Based Violence crimes are long enough.