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South Africa has seen a relative decline in several categories of crimes in recent years but not when it comes to sexual offences, hijacking of motor vehicles and murder.
According to Statistics SA’s Victims of Crime Survey (VOCS) results released earlier today, crime experienced by households and individuals aged 16 and older has been decreasing between 2013/14 and 2016/17.
The report further revealed that only 29.4% of people felt safe when it is dark compared to 84.8% who felt safe during the day.
It emerged from the survey that more and more households were losing confidence in the police and how courts handled perpetrators.
From 64.2% in 2011, the percentage of households satisfied with the police went down to 57.3% in 2016/17.
It was an almost similar graph when it came to people’s feelings about how the courts handle perpetrators, going down from 64.5% to 44.9% over the same period.
The report showed that an estimated total of 1 468 278 crime incidents recorded in 2016/17, affecting 1 153 984 households, i.e. an estimated 7.2% of households in South Africa.
A decrease can be noted there compared to about 9% of households in 2015/16.
Among others, housebreaking incidents went down by 8%, home robberies by 25%, while theft of personal property took a plunge by 12%.
The same, however, could not be said when it comes to some of the country’s priority and most worrying crimes – hijacking and sexual offences spiked by 93% and 110% respectively.
Statistician general Pali Lehohla explained VOCS as a “household-based survey that examines crime from the point of view of the victims” adding that “focus is on people’s perception and expertise of crime”.
The survey is based on a sample size of about 30 000 households.
Looking at the general experience of crime between 2015/16 and 2016/17, Lehohla cited the following: A 117% increase in sexual offences, 9% increase in murder and 93% increase in hijacking.
Some relief could be sought from areas where the number of households that experienced car theft reduced from 1.26% in 2015/16 to 0.95% in 2016/17.
A relatively slight decrease was recorded when it came to house burglaries which went down from 4.9% in 2013/14 to 4% in 2016/17.
It should also be noted that – at 51.2% – just over half of house break-ins were reported to the police while the rest were either reported to the community policing forum, religious leaders, insurance or a security company.
The report showed that at 54.4%, electronic equipment was the most sought-after during house robberies, followed by cellphones at 29.1%; while food came last at 22.8%.
“Yes, there is now food stolen. The other side shows that hunger has somewhat grown and poverty has increased. Other correlants suggest times are tough,” Lehohla said.
Meanwhile, the survey further revealed that about 38% of households that experienced house break-ins were satisfied with police response.
At about 59.5%, white-headed households that experienced burglary led the pack when it came to satisfaction with police response, compared with black Africans coming last at 33.3%.
“That has to do with infrastructure, how far the police station is, and the efficiency of the police,” Lehohla said.
