EDITORIAL | SA perceptions of crime are getting worse — here’s what you can do about it

Don't be lulled into a false sense of security behind those burglar bars at home — if you are not prepared to do your bit.

Home should be a stress-free sanctuary, a safe space for families. Not so in our all-too- often violent suburbs, townships and streets.

Data released on Tuesday revealed housebreaking remains the most widespread crime in South Africa, affecting more than 1-million homes, or 5.9% of all households in the country, during 2023/24.

Notably, only 44% of these incidents were reported to the police.

During the same 12 months there were 209,000 home robberies involving contact with the perpetrators, according to the Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey — Victims of Crime Report released by Stats SA on Tuesday. 

A gun was used in nearly 67% of those home robberies. Just over 57% of them were reported to police.

The figures contained in the report are, as sister publication Business Day explained, higher than quarterly crime statistics released by SAPS as the police statistics contain only reported crimes.

The survey examined the extent of crime from a victim’s perspective based on a sample size of 30,000 households across the country. While the sample could be larger, it makes for grim reading. 

Housebreaking, robbery, assault, murder and sexual offences have all increased compared with 2022/23. Fewer people, especially women, feel safe walking in their neighbourhood in the day and night compared with 2019/20. For context, the report said 443,000 individuals experienced a street robbery, many involving a knife, in the past 12 months.

Disturbingly, a review of archived articles reveals similar trends picked up by the survey going back as far as 2012. People, then, feared being robbed in their homes and felt unsafe walking alone.

What do we do? Throw our hands up in despair? Why have we not been able to tackle this scourge in more than a decade? The answer is complex.

It's easy to blame under-resourced, unresponsive police, but there are many thousands of members who are dedicated, unsung heroes who do put thugs behind bars.

Let's throw the cat among the pigeons. Many citizens fed up with crime have simply stopped reporting it to the police. 

But here's the thing. The allocation of police manpower and resources to suburbs and townships is largely done using crime statistics (incidents reported to a local police station).

Petty criminals can evolve into hardened criminals.

So not reporting, though it may be tedious, is a bit like shooting yourself in the foot. Your housebreakers may have carted off televisions and valuables without being caught, but reporting the crime and having fingerprints taken can trip them up if arrested later for another crime and the cases are linked.

Government needs to get serious about addressing the underlying causes of crime and allocate the resources to win this war. But you too, can do your part by reporting crime.