Statistics South Africa releases Victims of Crime Survey results 2017/18
11 Oct 2018
Victims of Crime Survey results released by Statistics South Africa today indicate that aggregate crime levels in the period 2017/18 increased as compared to 2016/17. It is estimated that over 1,5 million incidences of household crime occurred in South Africa in 2017/18, an increase of 5% compared to the previous year. Incidences of crime on individuals are estimated to be over 1,6 million, an increase of 5% from the previous year (see report - PDF).
According to the report, aggregate household crime levels increased in Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Gauteng, and Mpumalanga. Individual crime levels increased in Free State, North West and Gauteng. North West experienced a drastic increase of 80% in individual crime level. More provinces experienced an increase in household and individual crime levels if comparisons were done using proportions instead of absolute numbers.
Housebreaking or burglary continued to be the dominant type of crime in 2017/18 accounting for 54% of all household crimes surveyed in VOCS. An estimated 832 122 incidences of housebreaking occurred, a 7% increase compared to the previous year. An estimated 156 089 incidences of home robbery occurred, an increase of 3% from last year. It is estimated that 16 809 incidences of murder occurred in 2017/18 which is an increase of about 4% from the previous year.
In the case of individual crimes, theft of personal property was the most dominant accounting for about 41% of individual crimes. It is estimated that 693 219 incidences of theft of personal property occurred in 2017/18, a decrease of 2% from the previous year. Robbery away from home decreased by 5%, while sexual offence decreased by 61% and assault increased by 12% from the previous year.