Housebreaking tops crime list as it rises 10%, Stats SA report shows

Housebreaking, the most common crime experienced by households, increased 10% in the 2022/23 period compared with the 2021/22 period, Stats SA says.

This is one of the findings of the governance, public safety and justice survey conducted by the body, which released its “Victims of Crime” report on Thursday.

An estimated 1.6-million incidents of housebreaking occurred in 2022/23, affecting 1.1-million households, or 5.7% of all households in the country.

The second most common type of crime experienced by households is home robbery, with 238,000 incidents affecting 195,000 households in 2022/23. The number of affected households represents 1% of all households. A total 56.8% of households that experienced home robbery reported some or all incidences to the police.

The experience of theft of motor vehicles by households increased from 42,000 in 2021/22 to 73,000 in 2022/23.

Stats SA said in a media release on its report that 51.4% of households that experienced housebreaking reported some or all incidences to the police.

KwaZulu-Natal had the highest proportion (8.5%) of households that experienced housebreaking, followed by the Eastern Cape with 7%.

A total 68,000 households experienced assault in 85,000 incidences. Less than 1% of all households experienced assault. About 54% of households that experienced assault reported some or all incidences to the police.

Weapons were used in some of the incidences of assault, most commonly a knife. An estimated 28% of households reported that the perpetrators of assault were a relative or other household member.

Housebreaking

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% of individuals who experienced theft of personal property reported some or all incidences to the police.

Over the past five years, about 2.3-million households experienced housebreaking/burglary; about 465,000 experienced home robbery; about 219,000 experienced assault; about 209,000 experienced the theft of a motor vehicle; 2,8-million individuals experienced theft of personal property; 6-million individuals experienced consumer fraud; 1-million individuals experienced street robbery.

There were 57,000 murders and 49,000 sexual assaults.

A total 314,000 individuals experienced consumer fraud in 487,000 incidents in 2022/23. Results show that 38.1% of the victims reported some or all incidences to the police, a 6.1 percentage point decrease compared with the previous year.

Dealing with individual perceptions of safety, Stats SA said that 80.8% of the population felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhood during the day while 37% felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhood at night.

About 30% indicated that they had done something to protect themselves with about 44% of the population indicating that they only walk during safer hours as the main thing they have done to protect themselves against crime.

Nearly 80% of those aged 16 years and older felt safer after taking measures to protect themselves against crime.

ensorl@businesslive.co.za