SA property related crime – How has it changed

According to 2024 statistics , South Africa has the highest crime index in Africa and ranks as the fifth most dangerous country globally. The devastating reality is that each of us has been touched by crime in some way in this country.

But though it may not feel like it, crime – especially as it relates to property – has come down significantly in the past decade.

In this article, Hippo looked at the South African Police Service’s latest available annual report (2022/23) to see how property crime levels have changed in South Africa. The results may surprise you.

Then vs now: Comparing property-related crime in South Africa over 10 years

There are four categories of crime in South Africa – contact crime; contact-related crime, property-related crime and other serious crime.

The table below shows how incidents of property crime have changed in the past decade. As you can see, this type of crime has increased in the past 3 years but is significantly lower than it was in 2013/14:

Other crime categories

If we look at 2022/23 figures that show our biggest crime scourges in South Africa, we can see that theft and house burglary are some of the most prevalent crimes in our country:

Here's the new table generated using the provided template and data:

How to keep yourself safe from property-related crime in South Africa

Being aware of crime statistics is one thing, but there are other steps you can take to make yourself less likely to be a victim of property crime:

Sources

• Countries with the highest crime index in Africa in 2024

• South African Police Service Annual Crime Report 2022/2023