More doom and gloom in Victims of Crime survey
"An estimated 79 per cent of South Africans felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhoods during the day, a decrease of 6 per cent from last year.
Last week, the Statistician-General of Statistics South Africa released the annual findings of the Victims of Crime Survey (VOCS).
The aim of the survey is threefold: to explore the views household and crime victims have about crime; to explore public perceptions of the activities of the police, prosecutors; courts and correctional services, and to provide complementary data on the level of crime in South Africa.
The report “indicate[s] that aggregate crime levels in the period 2017/ 18 increased as compared to 2016/ 17. It is estimated that over 1,5 million incidences of household crime occurred in South Africa in 2017/ 18, an increase of five per cent compared to the previous year. Incidences of crime on individuals are estimated to be over 1,6 million, an increase of five per cent from the previous year.
“According to the report, aggregate household crime levels increased in Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Gauteng, and Mpumalanga. Individual crime levels increased in Free State, North West and Gauteng. North West experienced a
drastic increase of 80 per cent [at] the individual crime level. More provinces experienced an increase in household and individual crime levels if comparisons were done using proportions instead of absolute numbers.”
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The report went to say that “Housebreaking or burglary continued to be the dominant type of crime in 2017/ 18 accounting for 54 per cent of all household crimes surveyed in VOCS. An estimated 832 122 incidences of housebreaking occurred, a seven per cent increase compared to the previous year. An estimated 156 089 incidences of home robbery occurred, an increase of three per cent from last year. It is estimated that 16 809 incidences of murder occurred in 2017/ 18 which is an increase of about four per cent from the previous year.
“In the case of individual crimes, theft of personal property was the most dominant, accounting for about 41 per cent of individual crimes. It is estimated that 693 219 incidences of theft of personal property occurred in 2017/ 18, a decrease of two per cent from the previous year. Robbery away from home decreased by five per cent, while sexual offences decreased by 61 per cent and assault increased by 12 per cent from the previous year.
“Perceptions of South Africans on crime in 2017/18 were more sceptical compared to the previous year. About 42 per cent thought property crime increased during the past three years. This is an increase of 6,9 per cent from the previous year. Those who thought violent crime increased during the past three years were 46 per cent, an increase of 4,5 five per cent over the previous year. Western Cape was the most sceptical about crime trends, 84 per cent thought that crime in South Africa increased or stayed the same. Mpumalanga was the least sceptical among the nine provinces, 65 per cent thought that crime increased or stayed the same during the past three years. Crimes that are feared most are those that are most common.
“An estimated 79 per cent of South Africans felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhoods during the day, a decrease of six per cent from last year. About 32 per cent of South Africans felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhoods at night, an increase of eight per cent from last year,” the survey found.
The report also said that “Police visibility declined between 2016/ 17 and 2017/ 18. It is estimated that the proportion of South Africans who [had not seen] a police officer in uniform during the past twelve months increased by 6 per cent. Police visibility was least in the Eastern Cape where the percentage of people who [had not seen] saw a police officer in uniform during the past twelve months is estimated to be 38 per cent. The percentage of South Africans who were satisfied with police response in 2017/ 18 was 54 per cent, a decrease of 5,5 per cent from the previous year. The most common (about 34 per cent) reason for dissatisfaction with the police was that “they don’t respond in time”. The most common reason for dissatisfaction in 2016/ 17 was “they don’t recover goods”. South Africans who were satisfied with the courts dropped by about 8 per cent from last year to 41 per cent”.
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