The portfolio committee on police intends to interact with Stats SA and the police service on the misalignment between police crime statistics and the perception of crime on the ground, as revealed in the latest Stats SA survey.
Committee chair Ian Cameron said on Tuesday Stats SA's governance, public safety and justice survey 2024/25 highlighted a worrying and inherent trust deficit between the police and the community.
“It is worrying that only about 43% of households that experienced housebreaking in the 2024/25 financial year reported some or all incidents to the police, and that about 51% 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,” Cameron said.
The survey said theft of personal property was the most common crime in 2024/25. A total of 1.2-million people were affected, down from 1.3-million in 2023/24. However, most victims chose not to report these crimes: 69% chose not to report, while just 31% reported some or all incidents to the police.
Cameron said police should use statistics to enhance their efforts and adopt a data-driven approach to policing.
“The police must do more to enhance visible policing, especially in hotspot areas, to ensure a feeling of safety, especially in their homes.”
Cameron expressed concern about the increase in sexual offences as Stats SA reported that about 132,000 people experienced sexual offences over the past five years, an increase of 13.8%.
In its recent visit to KwaZulu-Natal at the police's forensic science laboratory division, the committee highlighted concerns around the processing of DNA samples to ensure effective prosecution of gender-based violence (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,” Cameron said.
He said it was worrying that the proportion of adults 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.
Cameron highlighted the importance of visible policing, especially at night, where only 36.1% adults felt safe in 2024/25.
While Cameron acknowledged the shortcomings in resolving the crime challenge, he called for a broader societal reflection on how society 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.”
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