South Africa experienced roughly 1.3-million incidences of housebreakings in the last year which affected 5.8% of households in the country. StatsSA reports that the most commonly targeted households are those headed by males and owned by either Indians or Asians followed by white households.
Only 48% of affected households reported incidences to the police. This is according to the Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey (GPSJS) 2018/19 released by Stats SA.
The Victims of Crime Survey has been redesigned into the GPSJS to allow for new information.
The survey differentiates between housebreakings and home robberies. In 2018/19 there were about 260 000 incidences of home robberies reported, affecting roughly 1% of all households in South Africa. White-headed households in metros were the most targeted for home robbery as well as households headed by younger individuals.
The most common weapons used in robber were guns (54%) and secondly knives (47%). Only 120 000 households actually reported their home robbery to the police.
Key finding include that there were an estimated 83 000 incidences of theft of motor vehicles this year, affecting roughly 0.4% of SA households. Male-headed households were the most affected by motor theft as well as metro based households.
Roughly 12 000 murders were committed in the last year, affecting 0.07% of South Africa households. All households reported their incidences to the police. With 32 000 murders being recorded by SAPS, it is clear many murders occurred without household members being aware.
More than 500 000 incidences of assaults were experienced by 0.7% of South Africans aged 16 or above. More victims of assault were young males.
32 000 incidence of hijacking were reported within the last year, including those that affected trucks. Roughly 0.08% of individuals aged 16 and older were hijacked.
When it comes to theft of personal property 1.2-million incidences recorded, affecting 2.5% of the population aged 16 or older. Mostly young, white males were targeted, specifically those living in the Western Cape or Gauteng.
About 580 000 incidences of street robbery in 2018/19 affecting 1% of people 16 or older in South Africa. Males were twice as likely than females to be victims of street robbery. People living in metropolitan area were more likely to be robbed in the street than those living in non-metro areas. The Western Cape had the highest percentage of people affected by street robbery in the country at 1.9%. Most commonly used weapons included knives (62%) and guns (37%).
Interestingly enough, the StatsSA report shows that people felt safer this year while walking in the street than last year, The percentage increased from 79% in 2017 to 83% in 2018/19.
The percentage of people who felt safe walking in their areas during the night increased this year as well, from 29% in 2017 to 35% in 2018/19.
