Once again, statistics on crime from the country’s two most important sources wildly contradict each other. South African Police Service (SAPS) crime statistics do not match those of the Victims of Crime Survey (VOCS) released by Statistics South Africa at the end of August 2024.
The SAPS murder figures, for example, are almost 25% higher than those of VOCS. SAPS reported cases of sexual offences were about double those of VOCS. Conversely, home burglaries reported by SAPS were about 15% of the figure reported by VOCS.
The VOCS survey produces estimates of the actual number of incidents of crime experienced by households and individuals, while SAPS statistics are derived from crime actually reported at police stations.
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