Rise in housebreaking, theft of personal property, consumer fraud linked to poverty

THE spike in housebreaking, home robbery, theft of personal property, street robbery, and consumer fraud could be driven by the rate at which poverty has created vulnerability in South African communities, says criminologist Dr Simon Howell. 

He was reacting to the 2023/24 to 2024/25 findings showing that an estimated 1.5 million incidents of housebreaking occurred, affecting 1.1 million households in South Africa. 

The report indicates that the number of affected households represents 5.7% of all households in the country. About 43% of households that experienced housebreaking reported some or all incidents to the police.

“When looking at individuals, theft of personal property was the most common crime in 2024/25. A total of 1.2 million people were affected, down from 1.3 million in 2023/24. Thefts were most likely to affect males and people living in metro areas. An estimated 1.3 million incidents of personal theft took place, affecting about 1.2 million individuals – equal to 2.6% of the population aged 16 and older. However, most victims chose not to report these crimes: 69% chose not to report, while just 31% reported some or all incidents to the police.”

Consumer fraud emerged as the second most commonly experienced crime among individuals, affecting an estimated 566 000 people and accounting for approximately 811 000 incidents.

Howell said people commit these offences because they can sell the stolen goods or derive some form of capital from them. 

“The same for theft of personal property, consumer fraud, (they are rooted in) the idea of accumulating capital. A lot of people are battling to generate an income for themselves and as a result, crime becomes one avenue among others. That’s not to say that property and crime are causally linked in any way but there is certainly a concern around the rate at which poverty has created vulnerability in South African communities,” he said. 

Calvin Rafadi, a crime expert and research associate at the University of Johannesburg,  said the high rates of personal property theft were also driven largely by drug abuse among young people and the involvement of criminal syndicates. 

“In some of the township slang the name (of this type of crime) is called Dimpiyeng. Many young people addicted to substances such as nyaope, crystal meth and mandrax often resort to stealing items like televisions/smart tv, radios, cellphones, copper pipes, and steel pipes. These goods are quickly sold on the black market, providing cash to sustain their drug habits,” he said. 

Housebreakings, he said, increasingly turned into armed robberies, as criminals often arrived heavily armed and used firearms when confronted.

“This pattern has been confirmed by numerous private security companies, who regularly face heavily armed suspects during emergency call-outs of home alarm systems,” he said.

Cape Times