Three per cent of South Africans say they carry a gun in order to keep themselves and their families safe from criminals.

That’s according to Statistician-General of South Africa, Risenga Maluleke.

He released the results of the Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey on Thursday.

The report covered the experience of specific types of crime by households and individuals and the reporting of crime in the country.

South Africa has seen an increase in street robberies and the theft of personal property in 2023 compared to 2022.

This while, hijacking and consumer fraud have decreased during the same period.

3.1% of those residing in the metros experienced theft of personal property.

According to the report, Gauteng has the highest proportion of individuals who experienced theft of personal property.

Maluleke says, “A total of 1.5 million incidents of personal property occurred. We are saying further that individuals who experienced theft of personal property increased by 11% in the past 12 months. Hijacking dropped, 134 000 to 114 000. Consumer fraud dropped from 376,000 to 314,000. Street robbery went up from 246,000 to 483,000.”

The majority of South Africans say they feel unsafe walking alone in their neighbourhoods at night.

Maluleke says, more females than males reported feeling unsafe.

“Individuals who felt safe walking in their neighbourhoods during the day decreased from 81.3% in 2023 to 80.8% in 2023. The majority of individuals, regardless of age, felt unsafe walking alone at night in the neighbourhoods. Fewer individuals that is 29.7% are doing something to protect themselves against crime, compared to the previous year where we were sitting at 47.7%.”