By Giwa SHILE
More than 1.5 million incidences of household crime recorded in South Africa in 2017/18 period, an increase of five per cent compared to the previous year, the Victims of Crime Survey (VOCS) said on Thursday.
In the financial year between March 31, 2017 and April 1, 2018, incidences of crime on individuals, estimated at over 1.6 million, also saw an increase of five per cent from the previous year, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said in the survey.
The survey showed that aggregate household crime levels increased in Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Gauteng, and Mpumalanga provinces.
Also the individual crime levels increased in Free State, North West and Gauteng, with North West experiencing a drastic increase of 80 per cent in individual crime level.
More provinces experienced an increase in household and individual crime levels if comparisons were done using proportions instead of absolute numbers, Stats SA said.
Housebreaking or burglary continued to be the dominant type of crime in the period, accounting for 54 per cent of all household crimes surveyed in the VOCS.
An estimated 832,122 incidences of housebreaking occurred, a seven-per cent increase, while an estimated 156,089 incidences of home robbery occurred, an increase of three per cent in 2017, according to the survey.
In the case of individual crimes, theft of personal property was the most dominant, accounting for about 41 per cent of individual crimes.
The survey also showed that more South Africans were dissatisfied with police.
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.
Meanwhile, South Africans, who were satisfied with the courts dropped by 8.5 per cent from 2017 to 41 per cent, according to the survey.
