Here is a look at crime trends and households’ perceptions about safety and law enforcement./ For a closer look at the report visit http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=9553

1. Victims of Crime Survey,
2015/16
Dr Pali Lehohla
Statistician-­General

2. Why
do
we
need
crime
statistics?
Safety NDP and MTSF Statistics
Crime creates anxiety in
society and this has a negative
effect on the quality of life and
economic development.
Its reduction is therefore a
priority on the national agenda
Chapter 12 of the National
Development Plan lists crime
reduction as a strategic priority.
The NDP envisions that people
living in South Africa should have
no fear of crime
One of the broad strategic
outcomes of the MTSF (2014-
2019) is:
“All People in South Africa are,
and feel safe”
In order to achieve the national
strategic outcomes on crime, it is
important to measure the levels,
trends and patterns of crime and
victimisation in SA
The South African Police Service
and VOCS data provide
complementary official sources of
crime statistics in SA

3. About
the
survey
The
Victims
of
Crime
Survey
(VOCS)
is
a
household-­‐based
survey
that
examines
crime
from
the
point
of
view
of
the
victims.
Focus
is
on
peoples
perceptions
and
experience
of
crime.
VOCS
was
conducted
by
Statistics
South
Africa
(Stats
SA)
in
1998.
The
Institute
for
Security
Studies
(ISS)
conducted
the
2003
and
2007
versions
of
the
VOCS.
Stats
SA
continued
to
run
the
survey
from
2011
onwards,
based
on
a
sample
size
of
approximately
30
000
households
VOCS
is
a
countrywide
survey
consisting
of
private
households
in
all
9
provinces
of
SA

4. Objectives
the
survey
3
2
1 Explore the views households and crime victims have
about crime
Explore public perceptions of the activities of the police,
prosecutors, courts and correctional services
Provide complementary data on the level of crime in
South Africa

5. Methodological
changes
Adopted a Continuous Data Collection (CDC)
methodology by collecting data from April to March
VOCS 2011 - VOCS 2015/16
Sample calibrated to the total population using population estimates based on
2014 series
The initial estimates were based on 2010 series
VOCS 2011 – VOCS 2015/16 were re-weighted to allow comparability over time
2011 2012 2013/14 2014/15
2015/16
2011
&
2012
Data
was
collected
during
the
January-­‐March
period

6. Household’s & Individual’s
Experience of crime

7. Percentage
distribution
of
households
who
experienced
at
least
one
incident
of
crime
by
type
of
crime
6,8%
6,9%
6,2%
5,7%
1,3%
0,8%
2011 2012 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16
House
breaking/burglary
and
home
robbery
has
consistently
been
the
most
prevalent
crime
experienced
by
households
in
South
Africa.
931
000
incidents
807
000
incidents

8. Incidents
of
crime
by
type
and
year
experienced
by
selected
individuals in
households
2,5%
2,4%
2,1% 2,0%
0,8%
0,7%
0,1%
0,7%
2012 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16
Theft
of
personal
property
Car
hijacking
Robbery
Sexual
assault
Assault
Consumer
fraud
Corruption
Although
theft
of
personal
property
steadily
declined
from
just
over
2,5%
in
2011
to
2,0%
in
2015/16,
it
has
consistently
remained
far
above other
types
of
crimes
throughout
the
years
Robbery
889
000
incidents
712
000
incidents
254
000 assault
incidents

9. Number
and
percentage
distribution
of
crime
experiences
and
reporting
rates
Car theft was
reported
Theft of crops were
under-­reported
crimes at
Murder was
reported to the
police
95% 90,9%
70,5% 80%
Household
crimes
that
were
reported to
the
police
Household
crimes
that
were
under-­‐reported to
the
police
Theft of livestock were
under-­reported at

10. 93,8%
89,5%
40,9%
29,3%
18,4%
17,3%
93,8%
95,0%
2012 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16
Percentage
distribution
of
incidents
of
crime
reported
by
households to
the
police
Murder
Car Theft
Incidents of murder and car thefts were mostly reported to the police in the period
under review, with a slight decline for murder reporting from 96, 0% in 2014/15 to
95,0% in 2015/16.
Theft of crops
Theft of livestock
Theft of livestock reporting
also declined steadily from
40,9% in 2011 to 29,3% in
2015/16

11. Number
of
households
per
10
000
households,
who
reported
incidents
of
housebreaking/burglary
by
province
Households in Western
Cape and Free State
were most likely to
report incidents of
housebreaking/burglary
to police
Households in North West
Mpumalanga and Eastern
Cape were least likely to
report incidents of
housebreaking/burglary to
police.

12. Percentage
distribution
of
incidents
of
crime
reported
by
selected
individuals
to
the
police
(age
16+)
Theft of personal property
80,6%
86,9%
Robbery
49,5%
35,5%
93,3%
48,6%
Consumer fraud
2012 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16
There
was
a
sharp
decline
of
reporting
of
assault incidents
from
93.3%
in
2011
to
48,6%
in
2015/16.
Individual
crime
tended
to
be
less
frequently
reported
to
the
police
than
household
crime
Car
hijacking
was
the
most
reported
individual
crime,
where
between
80%
-­‐
100%
of
incidents
were
said
to
have
been
reported
to
the
police
during
the
period
2011
and
2015/16.
Other
individual
crimes
saw
fairly
constant
reporting
rates

13. Individuals’ reasons for not reporting incidents of
crime to the police per crime (selected)
The
most
cited
reasons
for
not
reporting
individual
crime
to
the
police
were
that
either
police
could
do
nothing or
police
won’t
do
anything
about
it
15%
8%
14%
11%
34%
29%
7%
11%
23%
35%
17%
14%
Theft of
personal
property
Robbery Assault Consumer
fraud
Not
serious
enough
Police
could
do
nothing
Police
won't
do
anything
These
reasons
jointly
accounted
for
an
estimated
57,2%
for
theft
of
personal
property,
64,1%
for
robbery,
23,8%
for
assault
and
24,9%
for
consumer
fraud.

14. Household's feelings about crime and
their safety

15. Percentage distribution of households’ perceptions
about change in violent crime levels in their areas
31,2%
32,5%
41,2%
43,6%
41,7%42,9%
38,2%
31,7%
28,7%
28,1%25,5%
29,2%
27,1% 27,6%
30,1%
2010 2011 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16
In
2015/16
most
households
(41,7%)
were
of
the
view
that
violent
crime
in
their
area
had
increased
in
the
last
three
years
as
compared
to
31,2%
for
in
2010
Households
stated
that
in
the
last
three
years
levels
of
violent
crime
has
increased.

16. LP
46%
MP
38%
KZN
36%
EC
44%
FS
48%
NW
47%
NC
46%
WC
52%
GP
37%
Percentage
of
households
who
said
that
crime
had
increased
in
their
areas
South
Africa
41%
Western
Cape
had
the
highest
proportion
of
households
who
said
that
crime
increased
(52,2%),
followed
by
Free
State
(48,0%)
and
North
West
(47,4%).
Percentage distribution of households’ perceptions
about change in violent crime levels in their areas
Gauteng
(33,6%)
and
KwaZulu-­‐Natal
(33,1%)
had
the
highest
percentage
of
households
who
felt
that
violent
crime
decreased
during
the
past
three
years.

17. Perception
about
the
most
common
crime
in
SA
53%
Housebreaking/burglary
66%
59%
Home robbery
39%Street robbery
42%
Pick-­pocketing or bag-­snatching
18%
Assault
16% Murder
16%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
2011 2012 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16
House-breaking/burglary
is perceived as the most
common crime in SA
Murder is perceived as
the least common
crime in SA

18. 89,2%
85,4% 86,8% 85,4% 83,7%
36,9% 35,9% 34,8%
31,0% 30,7%
2011 2012 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16
Safe
during
the
day Safe
when
it
is
dark
When do households feel safe in their area?
Between
2011
and
2015/16
there
was
significant
decline
of
the
percentage
of
households
who
felt
safe
walking
alone
in
their
area
of
residence
both
during
the
day
and
when
it
is
dark.

19. 32,3%
33,2%
21,0%
22,6%
13,4%
15,4%
2011 2012 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16
Percentage distribution of households who were prevented from
engaging in daily activities when alone, as a result of crime in their area
Going to open spaces or parks
22,6%
of
households
were
prevented
from
allowing
children
to
play
outside
as
a
result
of
the
prevalence
of
crime
in
their
areas.
Households
were
prevented
from
going
to
open
spaces
or
parks
and
allowing
children
to
play
in
their
areas
without
adult
supervision
as
a
result
of
fear
of
crime
throughout
the
period
2011
– 2015/16.

20. Views on why perpetrators of crime
commit crime

21. 28,8%
43,1%
47,4%
76,7%
27,6%
42,1%
48,4%
77,5%
Non
Financial
Motives
Greed
Real
Need
Drug
related
need
2015/16 2014/15
Households’ perception on why crime was committed
Reasons
for
committing
crime
remained
constant
during
the
last
five
years
with
drug
related
need
being
the
top.
Over
the
period
2014/15
and
2015/16
households
cited
drug
related
need
as
the
main
reason
why
crime
was
committed.

22. Type of weapons used by perpetrators
of contact crime

23. Percentage
of
crime
incidents
by
the
most
common
types
of
weapons
used:
2013/14
CAR
HIJACKING ROBBERY ASSAULT
MURDER HOME
ROBBERY
75,5%
32,2%
36,9%
35,8%
51,5%
22,0%
49,7%
61,2%
49,7%
51,2%
The
report
shows
that
gunswere
the
most
commonly
used
weapon
by
perpetrators
of
carhijacking,robbery,home
robbery
and
murder.

24. Households’ response to crime

25. Measures taken to protect against crime
49%
51,2%
21,7%
29,1%
31,5%
5,1% 5,5%
11,4%
9,6%
6,2%
2011 2012 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16
About
half
of
the
households
took
physical
protection
measures
of
home
to
protect
themselves
from
crime
About
11,4% of
households
opted
to
acquire
private
security
services
to
protect
themselves
from
crime
Physical protection measures of home
Carrying of weapon

26. Experience with and perceptions about
authorities

27. Time it takes to reach the nearest police station
using their usual mode of transport
2014/15 2015/16
67,7%
25,1%
6,3%
1,0%
64,6%
28,5%
5,9%
1,1%
The
pattern
shows
that
there
is
no
significant
difference
between
2014/15
and
2015/16.This
may
be
an
indication
that
the
time
it
takes
to
the
nearest
police
station
has
not
changed
between
this
period.
Less
than
30
mins
Less
than
1hr
(but
more
than
30
mins)
Less
than
2hr
(but
more
than
1hr)
More
than
2hrs

28. 87%
54%
66%
58%
53%
55%
76%
64%
47%
65%
11,9
34,9
22,8
33,0
35,9 34,5
21,3
31,1
41,2
28,5
WC EC NC FS KZN NW GP MP LP RSA
Less than 30 min Less than 1 hr (but more than 30 min)
Less than 2 hrs (but more than 1 hr) More than 2 hrs
In
all
provinces
except
Limpopo the
majority
of
households
are
able
to
reach
a
police
station
in
less
than
30
minutes.
Police
stations
are
most
accessible
in
the
Western
Cape
with
over
98% of
households
able
to
reach
a
police
station
in
less
than
an
hour
Time it takes to reach the nearest police station
using their usual mode of transport by province

29. Percentage distribution of households who saw the police, in
uniform and on duty, in their area of residence
43,5%
33,1%
26,4%
27,2%
10,5%
13,1%
12,5%
19,4%
2011 2012 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16
South
African
households
thought
that
during
the
period
2011
– 2016
police
visibility
has
been
declining.
At least once a week
At least once a month

30. Percentage of household satisfaction with the
police
64,2%
62,5%
59,4%
56,9%
58,8%
2011 2012 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16
The
was
a
dominant
decrease
in
household
satisfaction
with
the
police
throughout
the
years
There
has
been
a
decline
of
satisfaction
with
the
police
in
South
Africa
from
64,2% in
2011
to
56,9%
in
2014/15,
then
increased
to
58,8%
in
2015/16.

31. Percentage of household satisfaction with the
performance of the courts
64,5% 63,4%
63,9%
54% 52,3%
2011 2012 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16
Household’s
satisfaction
with
courts has
seen
a
big
drop
since
2011.
There
is
a
decline
in
the
percentage
of
households
who
are
satisfied
with
the
way
courts
are
dealing
with
perpetrators
of
crime
in
all
provinces
except
Limpopo.
Western
Cape
displayed
the
lowest
levels
of
satisfaction
with
the
courts
(32,2%).

32. 2,7%
5,9%
6,6%
7,0%
16,1%
17,3%
43,6%
No proper notice of
hearing is served
Some people get
preferential treatment
Courts are corrupt
Not enough convictions
Perpetrators released
unconditionally
Matters drag for too
long/postponements
Courts are too lenient on
criminals
Reasons for being Dissatisfied with the way in which
courts generally deal with perpetrators of crime
A
high
percentage
of
households
who
indicated
that
courts
were
too
lenient
on
criminals
was
observed
in
Northern
Cape
(66,0%)
and
Free
State
(61,7%).
Most
common
reason
for
dissatisfaction
with
courts
is
courts
are
too
lenient
on
criminals

33. Perceptions on corruption

34. Percentage of services for which bribes were
solicited from households
0,4
0,7
1,0
1,1
2,9
3,8
6,5
6,8
8,5
11,4
12,2
13,8
14,4
16,4
When visiting a prison
Revenue services/customs
Medical Care
Education/schooling
Water or electricity
Court-­related services
Other
ID documents/passports
Drivers licence
Housing
Social welfare grant
Traffic fines
Policing
Employment/jobs
About
16,4
% of
households
thought
that
employment/jobs
were
main
reasons
for
which
bribes
were
solicited,
followed
by
policing
and
traffic
fines

35. Perceptions on why people pay bribes
1,9%
3,0%
3,9%
8,7%
22,7%
24,6%
35,3%
Other
Receive information
Reduce cost of procedure
Avoid payment of fine
Finalisation of procedure
Receive better treatment
Speeding up procedure
More
people
pay
bribes
to
speed
up
procedures
At
provincial
level,
Free
State
(44,7%)
and
Kwa-­‐Zulu
Natal
(44,5%)
had
the
highest
proportion
of
households
who
thought
that
people
are
paying
bribes
for
speeding
up
procedures.

36. VOCS -­ SAPS Comparison
*VOCS
estimates
are
derived
from
the
sample
and
when
comparing
them
to
SAPS
reported
cases
caution
must
be
exercised.
*Murder
is
statistically
a
rare
event
and
the
sample
is
not
big
enough
to
adequately
capture
it.
*Since
murder
questions
involve
family
members,
some
families
choose
not
to
respond
due
to
emotional
attachment/traumatic
nature
of
the
of
the
event.

37. VOCS -­ SAPS Comparison

38. Thank
you