Most common crime in South Africa

Statistics South Africa’s Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey results revealed that theft of personal property is the most common crime in South Africa.

The data showed that 1.4 million incidents of personal property theft occurred in 2025/26, affecting 1.2 million individuals aged 16 and older.

37% of individuals who experienced theft of personal property reported some or all incidents to the police.

The second most common crime by individuals was street robbery. 459,000 individuals experienced street robbery, with an estimated 515,000 incidents.

41.7% of the individuals reported some or all incidences of street robbery in South Africa to the police.

Another common crime is housebreaking. In 2025/26, over 1.5 million incidences of housebreaking occurred, affecting 1.08 million households in South Africa.

48% of households that experienced housebreaking reported some or all incidents to the police.

An interesting statistic was whether people felt safe walking in the street during the day or at night.

81% of those aged 16 years and older felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhood during the day, while 37.9% felt safe walking alone when it was dark.

The proportion of individuals who have done something to protect themselves against crime increased from 43.3% in 2024/25 to 46.6% in 2025/26.

Only 32% of the population indicated that they only walk during safer hours as the main thing they have done to protect themselves against crime.

Limpopo stood out as the province where individuals felt safest, with 98.0% saying they felt safe walking alone during the day and 69.1% feeling safe at night.

Crime statistics in South Africa