The most feared crimes in South Africa

 ·6 Dec 2015

A survey conducted by Statistics South Africa has listed the crimes which South Africans are most afraid to fall victim to in the country.

The Victims of Crime Survey for 2014/2015 looked at private households from all nine provinces in South Africa, and provides information about the dynamics of crime from the perspective of these households and victims of crime.

As part of the survey, households and individuals were asked which crimes they believe are the most common – and which crimes they are most afraid of becoming victims of in the country.

Looking at the crime data released by the SAPS in September, the most common reported crime in the country – excluding drug related crime – is burglary at residential premises, which saw just under 254,000 cases open in 2014/15.

The survey data shows that South Africans at large are apparently well aware of this, as most citizens accurately perceived this to be the most common crime in the country.

More than six in every 10 households (65.9%) perceived the most common crime to be housebreaking/burglary (65.9%), followed by home robbery (42.7%), street robbery (42.1%) and pick-pocketing or bag-snatching (26.0%).

Respondents could cite more than one crime.

Perceived top 10 crimes

# Crime % Perceived
1 Housebreaking / Burglary 65.9%
2 Home Robbery 42.7%
3 Street Robbery 42.1%
4 Pick-pocketing / Bag-snatching 26.0%
5 Assault 21.5%
6 Business Robbery 19.2%
7 Murder 17.6%
8 Sexual Assault 16.6%
9 Livestock / Poultry Theft 15.9%
10 Care / Vehicle Theft 12.6%

When it comes to crimes most feared, however, things look slightly different. While housebreaking/burglary and home and street robbery were perceived to be the most feared crimes, the fear of murder and sexual assault also feature highly.

Crimes South Africans fear the most

# Crime % Feared
1 Housebreaking / Burglary 63.6%
2 Home Robbery 49.8%
3 Street Robbery 43.2%
4 Murder 37.6%
5 Sexual Assault 30.7%
6 Pick-pocketing / Bag-snatching 26.4%
7 Assault 25.0%
8 Business Robbery 17.5%
9 Vehicle Hijacking 16.8%
10 Livestock / Poultry Theft 16.5%

More on Crime

9 reasons why South Africans don’t trust the police

2015 crime stats for South Africa: everything you need to know

Most South Africans don’t feel safe

The worst crime hot spots in South Africa

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