STATISTICS South Africa has raised the alarm on the “significant” increase in hijackings across South Africa over the past 12 months.
Releasing the results of the Victims of Crime Report from the Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey (GPSJS) 2021/22 at a media briefing in Pretoria, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke said there has been a marked increase in hijackings.
“There has been a significant increase in hijackings between the year 2020/21 and 2021/22 period … In the 2020/21 period there were 151 000, and now we have gone all the way to 330 000 in the past five years,” he said.
According to the Stats SA survey, about 62.9% of individuals who experienced hijackings reported some or all of the incidents to the police.
About 1.1 million people aged 16 and older experienced theft of personal property in 2021/22. That percentage represents 2.6% of South Africa’s population aged 16 and older.
Additionally, more than two million households across South Africa have experienced burglaries.
“Around 2.2 million households experienced housebreaking or burglary during the past five years. The experience of housebreaking has increased by 14% from the previous year,” Maluleke told journalists at Stats SA’s Isibalo House in Salvokop, Pretoria.
The Victims of Crime Report covers the experience of specific types of crime by households and individuals, the incidences, and the reporting of crime. This includes housebreaking, theft of personal property, assault, vehicle hijacking and home robbery, among others.
Unlike the SAPS crime statistics, which are based on crimes reported at police stations, Maluleke said his survey is based on visiting households across South Africa and asking residents about their experiences in line with general safety.
In 2021/22, about 983 000 households in South Africa experienced housebreaking/burglary. This represents 5.4% of households in South Africa.
“When we go further, we are looking at an increase. We are saying households that experienced housebreaking increased by 21.5% in the 2021/22 period – the past 12 months. Home robbery (when house occupants are present) was 155 000 in contrast to housebreaking, when people are not at home,” said Maluleke.
The highest proportion of households that experienced housebreaking are in KwaZulu-Natal, with 7.9% of the total, whereas Limpopo experienced the lowest with 3.8%.
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