Housebreakings on the rise SA in households in the year 2022/23: Stats SA

Pretoria - Statistics South Africa (StaSA) has released the Victims of Crime report, extracted from the Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey (GPSJS). According to the report, household experience of housebreaking has increased in the 2022/23 period compared to the 2021/22 period. Housebreaking is the most common crime experienced by households in South Africa. The second most common type of crime experienced by households is home robbery, affecting 195 000 households.  The experience of theft of motor vehicles by households increased from 42 000 in 2021/22 to 73 000 in 2022/23.

In 2022/23, an estimated 1,6 million incidences of housebreaking occurred, affecting 1,1 million households in South Africa. The number of affected households represents 5,7% of all households in the country. About 51% (51,4%) of households that experienced housebreaking reported some or all incidences to the police. KwaZulu-Natal province had the highest proportion (8,5%) of households that experienced housebreaking.

An estimated 238 000 incidences of home robberies occurred, affecting 195 000 households in 2022/23. The number of affected households represents 1,0% of all households in the country. About 57% (56,8%) of households that experienced home robbery reported some or all incidences to the police.

A total of 68 000 households experienced assault in a total of 85 000 incidences. Less than 1% (0,4%) of all households in the country experienced assault. About 54% (53,7%) of households that experienced assault reported some or all incidences to the police. Weapons were used in some of the incidences of assault. The households reported that the weapon that was mainly used during the incidences of assault was a knife. An estimated 28% of households reported that the perpetrators of assault were a relative/other household member.

An estimated 1, 5 million incidences of theft of personal property occurred in 2022/23, affecting 1,2 million  individuals aged 16 years and older. The number of affected individuals represents 2,9% of the population. About 41% (41,4%) of individuals who experienced theft of personal property reported some or all incidences to the police.

A total of 314 000 (0,7% of adults aged 16 and older) individuals experienced consumer fraud in a total of 487 000 incidences. Results show that 38,1% of the victims reported some or all incidences to the police, which is a 6,1 percentage point decrease compared to the previous year.

The report further shows that 81% (80,8%) of the population felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhood during the day while 37,0% felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhood during the night. About 30% (29,7%) indicated that they have done something to protect themselves. Almost 44% (43,8%) of the population indicated that they only walk during safer hours as the main thing they have done to protect themselves against crime. 79,7% of those aged 16 years and older felt safer after taking measure to protect themselves against crime.

The proportion of households who know their neighbours’ names increased from 91,9% in 2019/20 to 93,3% in 2022/23. A slight decrease is observed in the number of households who would ask any of their next-door neighbours to watch their house when they were going away. More than 50% of the households indicated that they have no knowledge of active forums that discuss or deals with community-related issues in their areas. The proportion of households who knew of active forums increased from 33,5% in 2019/20 to 38,3% in 2022/23.