The document provides a summary of the Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey (GPSJS) conducted in South Africa in 2018/19. Some key findings: 1) Theft of personal property, street robbery, and deliberate damage of residential property increased from 2017/18 to 2018/19 according to the survey data. 2) Housebreaking affected the most households at 5.8% of South African households. The Northern Cape had the highest proportion of households affected by housebreaking. 3) Theft of personal property was the most common crime against individuals, affecting 2.5% of those aged 16 and older. Younger individuals were most at risk of theft. 4) More individuals

1. GPSJS 2018/19
Risenga Maluleke
Statistician-General
3 October 2019
Governance, Public Safety
and Justice Survey
Victims of Crime
2018/19

2. GPSJS 2018/19
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
feel safe at home, at school and
at work and live without fear.
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. GPSJS 2018/19
02
01
04
03
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 resumed the survey from 2011 – 2017/18, based on a
total sample size of approximately 30 000 households across
9 provinces of SA.
In 2017 VOCS was redesigned to make room for new information
demands on governance. The redesigned survey is called Governance,
Public Safety and Justice Survey (GPSJS). GPSJS retains most of the
VOCS content.
Stats SA published two reports from GPSJS, one on
governance themes published in August and the other on
victims of crime published in September.
ABOUT GPSJS SURVEY

4. GPSJS 2018/19
Provide an overview of the level and trend of crime
experienced by households and individuals in SA
Explore public perceptions on issues of safety and
methods used by households to protect themselves
Complement SAPS crime statistics by providing
estimates for quantities that cannot be measured at
police stations
1
2
3
Objectives of this report

5. GPSJS 2018/19
INTRODUCTION
ØWhile redesigning VOCS into GPSJS some questions
were modified for greater accuracy and in order to align
with international reporting demands (e.g. SDGs).
ØThis caused a break of series for affected questions, in
particular questions on 12-month experience of crime.
ØThe question on 5-year experience of crime was not
changed and hence there is no break of series.
ØThe 5-year trends were therefore used as a proxy for the
12-month series as the two follow similar patterns.
ØSimilarity of shapes of the two series makes it possible to
predict increase or decrease of crime during the past 12
months using the 5-year series.

6. GPSJS 2018/19
ØSurvey data provide evidence that Theft of personal
property, Street robbery and Deliberate damage of
residential property & arson increased between 2017/18
– 2018/19
ØThe number of incidences for other crimes remained the
same as the previous year, notwithstanding the fact that
the actual numbers reported to the police, according to
SAPS data, may have increased or decreased during the
same period

7. GPSJS 2018/19
Household crimes
Housebreaking, home robbery,
theft of motor vehicles, deliberate
damage of residential property
and arson, murder, assault and
sexual offence
Individual crimes
Theft of personal property, street
robbery, hijacking, assault, sexual
offence and consumer fraud
The Victim of Crime modules in GPSJS cover 7 household crimes and 6
crimes on individuals randomly selected from adults aged 16 and older.
Since last year, we present crime statistics from our household surveys together with comparable administrative data from
SAPS.

8. GPSJS 2018/19
HOUSEHOLD
EXPERIENCE OF
CRIME

9. GPSJS 2018/19
1700000
1900000
2100000
2300000
2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
350000
400000
450000
500000
550000
600000
650000
2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
170000
220000
270000
320000
2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Trends in Housebreaking
Trends in Home Robbery
Trends in Car Theft
Trends in household crimes
“Have you or your household experienced (…..) during the past 5 years”
Household

10. GPSJS 2018/19
70000
90000
110000
130000
150000
170000
190000
2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Trends in Deliberate damaging, burning or
destruction of residential dwellings
Trends in household crimes
“Have you or your household experienced (…..) during the past 5 years”
25000
30000
35000
40000
45000
50000
55000
60000
65000
70000
2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Trends in Murder
Household

11. GPSJS 2018/19
No. of
Incidences
% of
Households
Reported
to police
(GPSJS)
Most likely
victims
Alignment
with SAPS
data
Housebreaking
1,3 million
incidences
5,8% of
households in SA
467 599
48%
Male-headed HH
Indian/Asian-HH
Low and high income HH
Estimates
differ from
SAPS
(220 865)
Home robbery
260 000
incidences
1% of households
in SA
110 203
60%
White-headed HH
Metro
Households headed by
young people
Estimates
differ from
SAPS
(22 431)
Deliberate
damage of
property & arson
70 000
incidences
0,32% of
households in SA
26 734
50%
Female-headed HH
Metro
SAPS uses
different
definitions
Number and percentage of households that experienced specified types of crime during the
past 12 months

12. GPSJS 2018/19
Housebreaking made up the largest percentage of affected households
compared to other households crimes
Number and percentage of households
that experienced specified types of crime
during the past 12 months
0 200 000 400 000 600 000 800 000 1 000 000
Murder
Sexual offences
Deliberate damaging/burning/destruction of dwellings
Theft of motor vehicle
Assault
Home robbery (Contact )
Housebreaking/burglary (No contact ) 5,77%
1,09%
0,61%
0,40%
0,32%
0,09%
0,07%

13. The highest proportion (7,39%) of households that experienced
housebreaking was in the Northern Cape. The Free State experienced the lowest
proportion (3,75%) of households that experienced housebreaking.
Number and percentage of households that
experienced housebreaking by province
24 730
34 800
59 678
67 786
69 207
70 066
111 343
195 599
336 358
7,39%
3,75%
4,95%
4,06%
5,36%
4,41%
6,01%
6,5%
6,81%
-100 000 0 100 000 200 000 300 000 400 000
Northern Cape
Free State
North West
Eastern Cape
Mpumalanga
Limpopo
Western Cape
KwaZulu-Natal
Gauteng

14. GPSJS 2018/19
Number of incidences of
Housebreaking by month, 2018/19
Housebreaking peaked in June, November and December.

15. GPSJS 2018/19
Guns and knives were used in 54% and 47% of home robberies,
respectively.
Percentage of households where specific weapons were
used during home robbery 2018/19 (top 4 shown)

16. GPSJS 2018/19
INDIVIDUAL
EXPERIENCE OF
CRIME

17. GPSJS 2018/19
1500000
2000000
2500000
2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Trends in Theft of personal property
Trends in street robbery
450000
550000
650000
750000
850000
2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Trends in assault (excluding sexual assault)
IndividualsTrends in individual crimes
Number and percentage of individuals aged 16 and older that experienced specific types of
crime during the past 5 years
0
200000
400000
600000
800000
1000000
1200000
2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Trends in Street robbery

18. GPSJS 2018/19
Trends in individual crimes
Number and percentage of individuals aged 16 and older that experienced specific types of
crime during the past 5 years
95000
145000
195000
245000
295000
345000
2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Trends in consumer fraud
90000
140000
190000
240000
290000
2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Trends in hijacking
Individuals

19. GPSJS 2018/19
No. of
Incidences
% of
Individuals
Reported
to police
(GPSJS)
Most likely
victims
Alignment
with SAPS
data
Theft Of Personal
Property
1,2 million
incidences
2,5% of persons
aged 16 or older
324 580
32%
Male
White
Young
GP/WC
Trends in
line with
SAPS data
Street robbery
580 000
incidences
1% of persons
aged 16 years or
older
156 770
35%
Male
Metro
WC
Trends in
line with
SAPS data
Assault
500 000
incidences
0,7% of persons
aged 16 or older
140 459
50%
Males
Young adults
Not
comparable
as GPSJS
estimates
exclude
children
under 16
Number and percentage of individuals aged 16 and older who experienced specified
types of crime during the past 12 months

20. GPSJS 2018/19
0 200 000 400 000 600 000 800 000 1 000 000 1 200 000
Sexual offences (incl. rape, grabbing or touching without your
consent)
Hijacking of motor vehicle (incl. attempted hijacking)
Consumer fraud
Assault (excl. sexual assault)
Robbery (contact between perpetrator and victim; excl. home
robbery and car/truck hijackings)
Theft of personal property (incl. pick-pocketing and bag
snatching)
About a million persons aged 16 and older experienced theft of personal
property in 2018/19. This was 2,54% of the population of persons aged 16 and older.
Number and percentage of individuals aged
16 and older who experienced specified types
of crime during the past 12 months
2,54%
1,13%
0,70%
0,20%
0,08%
0,07%

21. GPSJS 2018/19
3,6%
2,8%
2,3%
1,4%
1,1%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
16–24 25–34 35–54 55–64 65+
Percentage of victims of theft of personal
property in different age groups, 2018/19
Age
There is a relationship between age and vulnerability to theft of personal
property. The young were most likely to lose personal property through theft.

22. GPSJS 2018/19
Knives and guns were used on 62% and 37% of individuals during street
robberies, respectively.
Percentage of individuals who experienced usage
of specific weapons during street robbery 2018/19

23. GPSJS 2018/19
Percentage of assaults committed by a specified
perpetrator, 2018/19
Almost 50% of the assaults were committed by someone close such as a
friend or acquaintance (22%), a spouse or intimate partner (15%), a relative or
other household member (13%). About 29% of the assaults were committed by
unknown persons.
Assaults committed by
persons known to the victim

24. GPSJS 2018/19
58%
41%
23%
73%
88%
2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Percent88% of victims of sexual offence reported at least one incident. This is an
increase from 73% in 2017/18.
Percentage of individuals who reported
sexual offences to the police, 2018/19
SAPS data also showed an increase of
sexual offence between 2017/18 - 2018/19
from 50 108 to 52 420

25. GPSJS 2018/19
Household
and
individual
perceptions
of their
safety

26. GPSJS 2018/19
84,8
83,2 84,1
79,1
82,8
77,0
78,0
79,0
80,0
81,0
82,0
83,0
84,0
85,0
86,0
87,0
2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Percent
Individuals who felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhoods during the
day increased from 79% in 2017/18 to 83% in 2018/19
Percentage of individuals who felt safe
walking alone in their areas during the day

27. GPSJS 2018/19
30,7% 30,5%
29,2%
31,8%
35,1%
28,0
29,0
30,0
31,0
32,0
33,0
34,0
35,0
36,0
37,0
2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Percent
Individuals who felt safe walking alone at night in their neighbourhoods
increased from 32% in 2017/18 to 35% in 2018/19.
Percentage of individuals who felt safe
walking alone in their areas during the night

28. GPSJS 2018/19
A larger proportion of females felt unsafe walking alone at night in their
neighbourhoods compared to males.
Feelings of safety when walking alone in areas
of residence when it is dark, by gender
Males Females

29. GPSJS 2018/19
A larger proportion of rural people felt safe walking alone at night in their
neighbourhoods compared to people in urban and metro areas
23,5 23,4
14,0
38,6
14,5
24,3
18,7
42,4
7,6
22,1
25,1
44,9
0,0
5,0
10,0
15,0
20,0
25,0
30,0
35,0
40,0
45,0
50,0
Very safe Fairly safe A bit unsafe Very unsafe
Percent
Rural
Urban
Metro

30. Ndzi Hela Kwala!