Statistics South Africa’s latest Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey found that 46.6% of people had done something to protect themselves against crime in 2025/26, up from 43.3% a year earlier.
Image: Lacie Cueto | Unsplash
Nearly half of South Africans are changing how they live to protect themselves against crime, with many restricting when they walk outside and others installing additional security at their homes.
Statistics South Africa’s latest Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey found that 46.6% of people had done something to protect themselves against crime in 2025/26, up from 43.3% a year earlier.
The most common measure was only walking during safer hours, cited by 31.5% of those who had taken precautions, followed by 29.9% who installed physical security measures such as burglar doors.
The precautions come as South Africans remain far less comfortable walking through their neighbourhoods after dark than during the day. "The precautions people are taking are not without reason," said the agency.
Some eight out of ten people aged 16 and older said they felt safe walking alone during the day, dipping slightly from 81% in 2024/25. After dark, however, just 37.9% felt safe walking alone, although this improved from 36.1% a year earlier.
Limpopo residents felt safest, with almost all of them saying they felt safe walking alone during the day and more than two-thirds after dark, Statistics South Africa says.
The survey was conducted between April 2025 and March 2026 and provides a different view of crime from police statistics because it captures households’ and individuals’ experiences, including crimes that are never reported to police. The agency says the survey complements South African Police Service (SAPS) statistics rather than replacing them.
SAPS statistics measure crimes reported to police, while Stats SA asks South Africans what crimes they have actually experienced. Statistics South Africa says its victimisation data therefore provide information that complements police statistics, alongside people's perceptions of crime and feelings of safety.
The latest survey shows the gap clearly: even as police record declines in several serious crimes, fewer than four in 10 South Africans feel safe walking alone after dark, and almost half are taking measures to protect themselves against crime.
Housebreaking or burglary remained the most common crime experienced by South African households. More than 1.5 million incidents occurred during 2025/26, affecting about 1.08 million households, or 5.3% of households nationally.
Yet fewer than half of affected households told police. Only 48.2% reported some or all incidents, meaning more than half of the households that experienced housebreaking did not report it.
Statistics South Africa distinguishes housebreaking from home robbery because residents are away when a housebreaking occurs, while home robbery takes place when people are present.
Home robbery was the second-most common household crime. Housebreaking was more prevalent among male-headed households, households headed by someone with a post-school qualification, and those in KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape.
South Africans remain far less comfortable walking through their neighbourhoods after dark than during the day.
Image: ChatGPT
Theft of personal property was the most common crime experienced by individuals. About 1.2 million South Africans aged 16 and older experienced personal theft during 2025/26, with an estimated 1.4 million incidents occurring during the year.
Only 37.3% of victims reported some or all of the incidents to police.
Street robbery was the next most common personal crime, although the estimated number of incidents declined from 529,000 in 2024/25 to 515,000.
The proportion of victims reporting street robberies to police improved from 36.4% to 41.7%, but this still means most incidents were not reported.
Not all crime moved downwards. The number of individuals who experienced assault increased from 363,000 in 2024/25 to 408,000 in 2025/26.
Men experienced assault more often than women, but there was a stark difference in who was responsible.
Among female assault victims, almost a third said the perpetrator was a spouse or intimate partner, compared with just 2.2% of male victims. Most victims said a weapon was used during the assault, with knives the most common, followed by sticks or clubs.
These Statistics South Africa findings come days after SAPS reported declines in several serious crimes between April and June.
Murder fell 5.9% from 5,770 to 5,427 cases compared with the same period a year earlier, while carjackings declined from 4,657 to 3,811 and residential robberies from 5,360 to 4,416.
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia nevertheless cautioned against interpreting the declines as meaning South Africa's crime problem had been solved. “These are the crimes that create fear in our communities.
Many are committed by organised, heavily armed criminal groups that operate with planning and sophistication,” he said.
Cachalia added that “others are interpersonal crimes, perpetrated by people known to their victims, reflecting deeper challenges within our social fabric and the breakdown of trust and relationships in communities.”
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