| Institute for Security Studies | |
| 3 March 2004 |
Why conduct national victim surveys?
| To find out more about crime levels: | ||
| supplement police crime statistics | ||
| first national survey in SA since 1998 | ||
| To better understand the nature of crime: | ||
| help to compile risk profiles for specific crime types | ||
| victims provide info in a format they best understand | ||
| To track public perceptions of crime & its impact: | ||
| measure the fear of crime and perceptions of safety | ||
| help assess the impact of crime on behaviour | ||
| To track public opinion on what is being done about crime | ||
| measure views of police and court accessibility & performance | ||
| Survey conducted: 1 Sept -15 Oct 2003 by Development Research Africa (DRA) | ||
| Sampling | ||
| Random selection of households across SA | ||
| 4 860 randomly selected individuals ≥16 years | ||
| Sample stratified by province & area type (urban\rural) | ||
| Weighting | ||
| Race, gender & economic status | ||
| Effect of weighting to reflect actual composition of population | ||
| Sample realised = 4 860 | ||
| Race | ||
| African 70% | ||
| White 15% | ||
| Coloured 13% | ||
| Indian 2% | ||
| Gender | ||
| Female 53% | ||
| Male 47% | ||
Demographics:
monthly household income after tax
Crime rates in SA - results cover:
| The percentage of people who were victims of crime | |
| Rates of reporting by victims to the police | |
| Level of satisfaction among victims with police when reporting | |
| How these 2003 data compare to the 1998 national victim survey conducted by UN, Stats SA & the Department of Safety & Security |
Victim surveys: notes about crime rates
| Questions are asked about individual & household experiences of crime - not crime against businesses | |
| Respondents may have different understandings about what constitutes a crime | |
| Some crimes are under recorded by victim surveys - as they are by the police - such as domestic violence, sexual assault, fraud, corruption | |
| Victim surveys do not generally collect data on murder | |
| Victim surveys do not collect data on ‘victimless crimes’ like drug related crimes | |
| 23% of all SA’s had been a victim of crime in the past year | |
| Property crimes occur more frequently than violent crimes - the 5 most prevalent crimes are non-violent | |
| < 1% victimisation rates were recorded for murder, sexual assault, car hijacking | |
Crime rates in SA, 2003 & 1998
| 24.5% of all SA’s were victims in 1998 | |
| ±2% drop in the crime rate between the 1998 & 2003 victim surveys | |
| This suggests that crime, as measured by the victim surveys, has levelled off since 1998 |
Reporting of crime to the police, 2003
Comparative reporting
rates,
SA 1998 & 2003
Victims who were satisfied with police service when reporting specific crimes, 2003
Victims who were satisfied with police when reporting, 1998 & 2003 surveys
Public perceptions of crime & safety - results cover:
| Has crime in your area gone up or down? | |
| What crimes do you think are most common in your area? | |
| What crimes are you most scared of in your area? | |
| How safe do you feel walking during the day and at night in your area? | |
| Who do you think commits crime in your area, and why do they do it? |
Views on how crime level has changed in area, in past 3 years
Views on how crime level has changed in area, in past 3 years
The one type of crime that people think occurs most in their area
One crime that people are most afraid of in their area
How safe people feel walking in their area during the day
How safe people feel walking in their area during the day, 1998 & 2003
Feelings of safety during the day, by race, 2003
How safe people feel walking in their area at night
How safe people feel walking in their area at night, 1998 & 2003
People who feel safe walking alone in their areas at night, ICVS 2003 city surveys
Views on perpetrators of crime
| 29% of SA’s know someone who makes a living from crime in their area | ||
| 36% coloureds, 32% blacks, 17% Indians & 7% whites | ||
| Race & province trends suggest poorer people are more likely to know someone who makes a living from crime | ||
| But most people don’t think criminals are motivated by ‘real need’ | ||
People who know someone in their area who makes a living from crime, by province
Views on why people commit property & violent crime
Views on perpetrators of crime (cont)
| 64% believe crime is committed by ‘people living in the area’ | |
| Very few (only 4%) believe foreigners are responsible for crime | |
| How safe do South Africans feel? | ||
| Feelings of safety have declined markedly since 1998 (& are low compared to other countries) | ||
| Despite this, it is encouraging that nearly half of SA’s do not believe crime has gone up in past 3 years | ||
| Those most concerned about safety & crime are: | ||
| People in metros followed by urban areas | ||
| Indians, followed by whites | ||
| What do people worry about? | |
| People are more likely to think property rather than violent crime has increased | |
| Despite this, most SA’s worry about violence (particularly those in farming areas) | |
| Concerns about violence are evidenced by the fact that people think robbery & murder are much more prevalent than they are in reality | |
| On the whole, public views about which crimes occur most often are accurate |
| Views on perpetrators of crime | |
| Many SA’s know people who make a living from crime in their area | |
| Given this, it is notable that ‘real need’ is not identified by most as the reason why people commit crime - in other words, committing crime is largely believed to be a matter of choice | |
| Crime in a particular area is generally believed to be committed by locals | |
| Very few attribute crime to foreigners |
Impact of crime - results cover:
| Have you ever witnessed a murder? | |
| Does the level of crime in your area prevent you from engaging in certain activities? |
| 14% of all SA’s over 16 yrs have personally witnessed a murder at some time in their life | |
| 15% of blacks (3 320 355) 12% coloureds (321 535), 9% whites (303 176) & 4% Indians (34 564) said they had seen a murder | |
| 53% were 16-25 years at the time | |
| 52% knew the victim - of these, most were neighbours or friends | |
‘The level of crime in my area prevents me from…’
Views on the state’s response to crime - results cover:
| Access to police & views on performance | |
| Access to courts & views on performance | |
| Perceptions about victim support | |
| ‘What one thing should government spend money on to make your area safer?’ |
| 97% know where the nearest police station is | |
| Of these, 66% say station is <30 mins away; 23% between 30-60 mins | |
| Access is better in urban areas & more urbanised provinces than rural & farming areas & rural provinces | |
| Access is better for whites than for blacks | |
| 46% of all SA’s visited their nearest police station in last 3 years & 32% had other official contact with police |
How often police are seen on duty, in uniform, in area
People who see police in uniform, in their area, once a day, by province
Views of police
performance:
How are views affected by actual contact with police?
| Of those who said their opinion of the police changed after making contact, 54% reported an improvement, 35% said it got worse, 12% unchanged | ||
| People in Free State, W Cape & N Cape most likely to report improvement | ||
| Significant racial variation: black (63%), coloured (46%), white (34%) & Indian (9%) reported improvement | ||
Views of police performance: ‘how are the police doing in your area?’
| 52% of SA’s think police are doing a good job in their area; 44% say bad job | ||
| These views differ according to: | ||
| Province & urban/rural area | ||
| Race: blacks, coloureds & whites much more positive than Indians | ||
| Views of changing crime level: 65% of those saying crime decreased say ‘good job’ compared to 44% of those who say crime increased | ||
| Feelings of safety: 66% of those who feel very safe walking after dark say ‘good job’ compared to only 46% of those who feel very unsafe | ||
Those rating police performance as ‘good’, by province
Rating of police performance according to how often they are seen on duty
Views of police performance in area, by settlement type
Views of police performance in area, by race
Why police are doing a good job
Why police are doing a poor job
| Access to the police is generally good, but remains a problem in rural areas & for black SA’s | |
| A small majority think the police are doing a good job, but these views are influenced by a range of factors, not all of which are about policing | |
| Results based on rates of reporting crime to police are mixed: rates have increased for several crime types, but have dropped for an important crime like robbery | |
| Of those who did report, more victims were satisfied with way police handled their case in 2003 than in 1998 |
| Visibility of police does not appear to have changed much since 1998 | |
| Increasing police numbers & visibility per se will not necessarily make people feel safer, although it will probably improve public confidence in the police | |
| The metros are key focus areas given the highest levels of fear of crime & lowest ratings of police in these areas. Of the ‘metro provinces’, KZN seems most in need of attention, followed by Gauteng |
| 84% of SA’s over 16 yrs know where the nearest magistrate’ court is | |
| 51% say it takes <30 mins to get there using usual mode of transport; 32% 30-60 mins | |
| Access better in urbanised than rural provinces | |
| 22% had been to court in last 3 yrs |
People who say it takes < 30 mins to reach magistrate’s court
| Of those who have been to court, 70% were satisfied with overall performance | ||
| By comparison, when all respondents were asked if courts generally are performing well, only 59% said ‘yes’ | ||
| Those least likely to say courts performing well: | ||
| The ‘metro provinces’: Gauteng, KZN & W Cape | ||
| Whites & Indians, most of whom said courts are not performing well | ||
People who think courts are performing ‘adequately’, by province
Reasons for being satisfied with how courts deal with perpetrators
Reasons for dissatisfaction with how courts deal with perpetrators
| As with access to the police, physical access to courts is generally good | |
| Although access is better in metro/urban provinces, satisfaction is lowest in these areas | |
| As other studies have shown, views of court performance are much more favourable among those who have been to court than among the general public | |
| Sentencing is the key issue about which the general public form their opinions of courts - both positive & negative |
Knowledge of victim support services
Places to take victims of violent crime for counseling
Places to take victims of rape & violent crime
| Police & medical services are seen as key sources of assistance for victims of violence - no matter what type of help is needed | ||
| This is not surprising & highlights the importance of: | ||
| Training police & medical officials in how to assist & refer victims | ||
| Systems of referral | ||
| Collaboration between state & non-state agencies providing victim support | ||
| Locating one-stop support centres at police stations or hospitals | ||
One thing government should spend money on to make my area safer
One thing government should spend money on to make area safer from violence, by race
| Donors: Royal Danish Embassy & IDRC | |
| Research & analysis team: Patrick Burton, Anton du Plessis, Ted Leggett, Antoinette Louw, Sibusiso Masuku, Duxita Mistry, Robyn Pharoah, Makubetse Sekhonyane, Boyane Tshehla & Hennie van Vuuren | |
| Stakeholders: representatives from SAPS, Departments of Social Development & Justice, NPA, UNODC, UNISA, Secretariat for Safety & Security | |
| Survey company: Development Research Africa |