Is South Africa really less safe than it was 30 years ago? The True South African evidence-based series explores this claim.
True South Africa: Data. Context. Perspective.
South Africans have become accustomed to bad news.
Open a newspaper, switch on the television, scroll through social media or join a conversation around a braai fire, and the message is often the same: the country is falling apart. Crime is out of control. The state has collapsed. Things are getting worse every year.
Given the crime that many South Africans encounter, witness or hear about, these fears are understandable. Crime remains one of the country's most serious challenges. Too many people still live behind walls, security gates and electric fences. Too many families have lost loved ones to violence. Too many communities continue to experience fear as a part of everyday life.
