But the number of South Africans who are raped, murdered and attacked in their homes each year remains way too high.

According to last year's statistics - covering April 1 2009 to March 31 2010 - 16834 people were murdered, compared to 18148 in 2008-2009.

Carnage of this scale would make sense in a country at war with itself - it has no place in a democracy.

But there are encouraging signs that the picture will continue to improve this year.

For one thing, the extra-ordinary police security for the 2010 soccer World Cup is expected to have made a significant dent in this year's statistics.

Police visibility has been scaled back since the soccer spectacular, but the police leadership believes that it has learned a number of important lessons from the country's successful hosting of the tournament.

But corruption in the police continues to plague the country's fight against crime.

The Institute for Security Studies has presented a compelling argument for the establishment of an independent, specialised anti-corruption unit to deal with police corruption which, though not systemic, is a serious problem.

According to the institute, research suggests that most officers accused of corruption or other offences escape conviction.

Another major problem bedevilling the fight against crime is the continued killing of police officers.

According to recent statistics, 65 police officers have been killed since the beginning of this year, compared with 94 last year and 107 in 2009.

Once again, the declining trend is encouraging - but not good enough.