SA CRIME QUARTERLY

This report analyzes South African Police Service (SAPS) crime statistics for the 2005/06 financial year, noting an overall downward trend in serious crime since 2002/03 despite public anxiety over a perceived new 'crime wave' in 2006. While murder and burglary rates have declined, the report highlights concerning increases in organized crimes, specifically car hijacking, car theft, and cash-in-transit robberies.

• Overall crime levels in South Africa have decreased by 18% between 2002/03 and 2005/06, following a peak in 2002/03 when 2,629,137 crimes were recorded.
• The murder rate showed a significant long-term decline of 41% between 1994/95 and 2005/06, falling from 67 to 39.5 murders per 100,000 people.
• Residential burglary rates declined from a peak of 704 per 100,000 in 2002/03 to 559 per 100,000 in 2005/06. Business burglaries decreased even more sharply, with 2005/06 figures being 38% lower than those in 1994/95.
• While overall robbery rates peaked around 2003 and then declined, aggravated robbery remains a critical challenge. Aggravated robbery rates fell from 288 per 100,000 in 2003/04 to 255 in 2005/06.
• Three specific types of serious crime increased between 2004/05 and 2005/06: car thefts rose by 2.5% to 85,964 incidents, car hijackings increased by 3%, and cash-in-transit (CIT) robberies increased by 74% (from 220 to 383 incidents).
• The surge in cash-in-transit (CIT) robberies may be partly due to a change in police definitions to include 'cross-pavement incidents', which SABRIC estimates made up about 60% of CIT heists in the last financial year.
• Public skepticism regarding official crime statistics is attributed to the SAPS release policy, which publishes data six months after the financial year ends, leaving a gap where recent events—such as a surge in violent robberies in 2006—are not reflected.

APA

Louw, A. (2006). SA CRIME QUARTERLY. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/CQ18LOUW.PDF

Chicago

Louw, Antoinette. SA CRIME QUARTERLY. Institute for Security Studies, 2006. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/CQ18LOUW.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Louw |first1=Antoinette |title=SA CRIME QUARTERLY |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=December 2006 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/CQ18LOUW.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{louw2006crime, author = {Louw, Antoinette}, title = {{SA CRIME QUARTERLY}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2006}, month = dec, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/CQ18LOUW.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }