Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) conducted the Governance, Public Safety, and Justice Survey (GPSJS) from April 2023 to March 2024. The GPSJS is a countrywide household-based survey that aims to bridge the statistical information gap in the field of governance statistics. Some recently published key findings complement findings released by the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Household crime levels in South Africa
In 2023/24, an estimated 1.5 million incidences of housebreaking occurred, affecting 1.1 million households in South Africa. Over the last 5 years, approximately 2.6 million households experienced a burglary, with the recent report indicating the experience of housebreaking has increased 12%. Further, in less than half of these incidents (44.1%), do the households report some or all incidences to the police. House breaking incidents peaked in June, with 162 000 estimated experiences.
An estimated 263 000 home robbery incidents occurred, which are incidents where contact is made between victims and perpetrators. In these encounters, 57.6% of households reported some or all incidences to the police. A further 257 000 households experienced assault in the last five years, with a 17% increase from the previous year.
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