The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Mr Ian Cameron, has noted Statistics South Africa’s release of the Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey 2024/25, which highlights the worrying and inherent trust deficit between the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the broader community.
“It is worrying that it is estimated that only about 43% (43,4%) of households that experienced housebreaking in the 2024/25 financial year reported some or all incidents to the police, and that about 51% (51,3%) of households that experienced home robbery reported some or all incidents to the police. This is a worrying low number of reported incidents to the police and points to an inherent trust deficit,” Mr Cameron emphasised.
While these challenges are evident in the high police-to-population ratio and the perennial lack of tools of trade, such as vehicles, the Chairperson highlighted that the SAPS should use the statistics to enhance their efforts and adopt a data-driven approach to policing.
The Chairperson also highlighted that the most common crime consistently experienced by South Africans is housebreaking/burglary/robbery. “The South African Police Service must do more to enhance visible policing, especially in hotspot areas, to ensure a feeling of safety, especially in their homes,” Mr Cameron said.
The increase in sexual offences is also a point of concern for the Chairperson. It is worrying that Stats SA reported that about 132 000 individuals experienced sexual offences over the past five years, an increase of 13.8%. In its recent visit to KwaZulu-Natal at the South African Police Service (SAPS) Forensic Science Laboratory division, the committee highlighted concerns around processing DNA samples to ensure effective prosecution of GBV cases. “The increase in cases highlights for the SAPS the need to urgently resolve the matter to ensure that perpetrators are brought to book. The only deterrence against GBV is effective prosecution,” Mr Cameron highlighted.
It is also worrying that the proportion of adults aged 16 and older who felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhoods during the day declined from 85% in 2020/21 to 80,4% in 2023/24, before edging up slightly to 81% in 2024/25, pointing to declining perceptions of safety. The Chairperson has highlighted the importance of visible policing, especially at night, where only 36,1% adults feel safe in the 2024/25 financial year.
While the Chairperson acknowledged SAPS’s shortcomings in resolving the current crime challenge, he has also called for a broader societal reflection on how, as a society, we can contribute to efforts to fight crime. “It is important that we adopt a whole-of-society approach to fight crime, either by sharing information with police or establishing functional community policing forums to enhance collaboration in the fight against crime. The police cannot do it alone,” Mr Cameron emphasised.
The committee intends to interact with Statistics South Africa and SAPS on the general crime statistics, especially the misalignment between the SAPS’s crime statistics and the perception on the ground, as revealed in the Stats SA survey.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.
