Growing lack of trust in SAPS remains deterrent for public to report house break-ins - Stats SA

JOHANNESBURG - A growing lack of trust in the South African Police Service (SAPS) remains a deterrent for the public to report cases of house break-ins.

While it’s the least reported, police have identified house break-ins as the number one crime committed in the country.

On Tuesday, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) released its annual victim crime report, breaking down trends in how the public reports incidents of crime.

Of the thousands of citizens who formed part of Stats SA’s Victim Crime Report Survey, the majority said they wouldn’t report cases of house break-ins to police due to a lack of proof or that police would do nothing about it.

Statistician-general Risenga Maluleke said: "Definitely, that is the first thing that people have always raised."

At least 18% of participants claimed to have resolved cases of house break-ins themselves.

Maluleke said citizens had lost faith not only in police but the entire justice cluster.

"People, when you compare them to courts of law versus the police, had more comfort in going to the police than courts of law."

More than 2.6 million incidents of house break-ins were reported to Stats SA in the 2024/25 period.