South Africans believe crime is on the increase
Statistician General Pali Lehohla says crime creates a vicious cycle, one that robs society of safety and security.
Stats SA has releases the 2015/16 Victims of Crime Survey that indicates that crime has in reality decreased from 6.8 percent in 2011 to 5.7 percent.
Perceptions in households, however, are that crime is on the increase.
With guns being the most prevalent weapon used in committing crime, about half of the households across the country have taken physical protection measures in their homes to protect themselves from crime.
Lehohla says crime perpetuates more incidents of crime.
"Crime creates a vicious cycle that robs society of the things they think they have," says Lehohla.
With frustrated residents in Rosettenville taking the law into their own hands and dealing with crime in the area themselves, the report confirms that South Africans have lost all hope in the police.
"Crime is driven by drugs and of course there are many reasons there are many reasons why people say they can't report something, they have solved something themselves or the police can't do anything about it," says Lehohla.