Men most affected by crime according to survey statistics
Both very low and very high income households were affected, with KZN and the Northern Cape fingered as the most affected by the crime
BY far the lead crime in South Africa, house break-ins affected 5.8% of the population, with 1.3 million incidents reported.
This was according to the latest victims of crime statistics released by Statistics SA on Thursday.
The report went on to say that the most likely victims of house break-ins were male-headed households, households in metros, Indian/Asian households, followed by white households.
Both very low and very high income households were affected, with KZN and the Northern Cape fingered as the most affected by the crime.
With the second highest house break-in statistics in the country, KZN reported 195 599 incidents during 2018/19.
However, less than half (48%) of affected households nationwide reported incidents to the police.
Despite these statistics, citizens’ perception of safety has improved, with 83% of people feeling safe enough to walk in their areas during the day (up from 79%) and 35% of people feeling safe enough to walk alone at night (up from 29%).
These statistics are according to the Governance, Public Safety and Justice survey which was previously the Victims of Crime survey.
In other crimes, theft of motor vehicles amounted to 83 000 nationwide, affecting 0.04% of the population, with the most likely victims being male-headed households in metros.
About 86% of these crimes were reported to the police.
About 12 000 murders were committed during 2018/19, affecting 0.07% of households in the country.
These do not include murders of homeless people or gang-related murders.
About 50% of assault cases were reported to the police, numbering 500 000 incidents which affected 0.07% of the population.
The most likely victims were men and young people.
With 1.2 million incidents of theft, it was found that men, white people, young people and those living in the Western Cape and Gauteng were the most affected by the crime.
Street robbery incidents amounted to 580 000, affecting 1% of the population aged 16 and over, with men being more than twice as likely as women to be victims.
The weapons most commonly used were knives (62%) and guns (37%).
Despite men appearing to be the most targeted in crimes, they reported to feel safer both during the day and at night, with those in rural areas feeling safer than those in metros.
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