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Statistics South Africa says that an estimated 1.6 million incidents of housebreaking occurred in the 2022/23 financial year, impacting 1.1 million households.
According to Stats SA's latest Victims of Crime, the second most common type of crime experienced by households was home robbery, affecting 195 000 households.
Statistics South Africa said according to the report, household experience of housebreaking increased in the 2022/23 period compared to the 2021/22 period.
About 51% of households that experienced housebreaking reported some or all incidences to the police, with KwaZulu-Natal province recording the highest proportion, at 8.5% of households that experienced housebreaking incidents.
"The number of affected households represents 1.0% of all households in the country. About 57% of households that experienced home robbery reported some or all incidences to the police," said Statistician General, Risenga Maluleke.
A total of 68 000 households experienced assault in a total of 85 000 incidences. Less than 1% of all households in the country experienced assault, with about 54% reporting the matter to police.
"The households reported that the weapon that was mainly used during the incidences of assault was a knife. An estimated 28% of households reported that the perpetrators of assault were a relative/other household member," he said.
An estimated 1. 5 million incidences of theft of personal property occurred in 2022/23, affecting 1.2 million people, while a total of 314 000 individuals experienced consumer fraud in a total of 487 000 incidences.
The report further showed that 81% of the population felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhood during the day while 37.0% felt safe walking alone in their neighbourhood during the night.
"Almost 44% (43,8%) of the population indicated that they only walk during safer hours as the main thing they have done to protect themselves against crime. 79.7% of those aged 16 years and older felt safer after taking measure to protect themselves against crime," Maluleke said.
