A new report from StatsSA reveals that more than 70% of SA households believe that corruption has increased during the period 2010\u20132013.<\/p>\n
The report, the 2013\/14 Victims of Crime survey, looks at the dynamics of crime and people\u2019s perception of crime in South Africa.<\/p>\n
It found that only 14.5% of households believed that the levels of corruption had remained unchanged during this period, whilst 13.6% said that corruption had decreased.<\/p>\n
StatsSA said that over three-quarters of households believe that people were involved in corruption to get rich quickly (76.9%).<\/p>\n
Bribes were commonly paid in order to speed up procedures (37.9%), followed by receiving better treatment (23.0%) and to avoid traffic fines.<\/p>\n
Households believed that it was pointless for them to report corruption because nobody will care (43.%), also because of the benefit received from the bribe (13.4%) and they also thought that it was common practice (11.6%) and therefore does not need to be reported.<\/p>\n
While four in ten of households in South Africa believed that the level of both violent and non-violent crime had increased in their areas of residence during the period 2010 to 2013, slightly more than 30% said that crime had decreased.<\/p>\n
More than six in ten (61.6%) households perceived housebreaking\/burglary to be one of
\nthe most common types of crime, followed by home robbery (43.4%) These two crimes were also the most feared amongst households, with murder the fourth most feared, behind street robbery.<\/p>\n
About 75% of households thought that criminals were more likely to be motivated by drug-related needs, as opposed to being motivated by real need (45.4%), greed (42.7%) or non-financial motives (29.1%).<\/p>\n
Half of the households in South Africa took physical measures to protect their homes, while more than a quarter took measures to protect their vehicles. Only 5.2% of households carried a weapon to protect themselves and their property, the report said.<\/p>\n
When asked about what they thought the government should to combat crime, 64.1% of households were of the view that social and\/or economic development was the more effective way of reducing crime.<\/p>\n
About 20% of households indicated that resources should rather be focused on law enforcement, while an estimated 15.6% felt that resources should be allocated to the judiciary\/courts in order to effectively reduce crime.<\/p>\n
More than 60% of households were satisfied with the way in which police and courts were doing their work.<\/p>\n
![\"Police](\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Police-satisfaction.png\")
<\/a>Police satisfaction<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Police satisfaction table (click to enlarge)<\/p><\/div>\n
This view may have been influenced by factors such as the time it took for police to respond to a crime, visible policing, conviction rates, and sentencing of perpetrators, the report said.<\/p>\n