The survey measures both actual levels of crime and perceptions about safety. The results revealed that despite actual overall levels of victimisation having decreased since 2003, most adult South Africans believe that crime is increasing and more people believe this to be the case than they did in 2003. This may be explained, at least in part, by the fact that while overall crime levels have dropped, robbery, including home robbery, has increased. This is according to both the victimisation survey and police statistics. The survey results also tell us that burglary and robbery are the two kinds of crime that people worry about most overall. Probably because these crimes take place in the home, where you should feel safe and where an intrusion is a violation of far greater magnitude psychologically than if one is robbed on the street. Both are frightening, but the thought of someone entering your home to steal your possessions and may rape, murder or torture you if you are there, probably has a greater impact on perceptions of crime and safety than other types of crime.
Since South Africans believe that crime is increasing, it is interesting to see how our views on what motivates crime have changed since 2003. In 2003, 39 percent of respondents believed that greed was the motive for violent crimes, and 36 percent believed this was the motive for property crimes. In 2007 the percentage of South Africans who believed that violent crimes were motivated by greed had increased to 44 percent, and 43 percent held the view that greed was the motivation behind property crimes. Correspondingly, the number of people who believed that property crimes and violent crimes were motivated by 'real need' decreased from 30 per cent for property crimes, and 18 percent for violent crimes in 2003, to 24 percent for property crimes and 17 percent for violent crimes. This suggests that those who may previously have thought that crime was motivated by real need have changed their views. They now believe that the criminals who murder and steal are driven by greed.
