South Africa

=== Law enforcement and crime ===
{{Main|Law enforcement in South Africa|Crime in South Africa}}
[[File:South african police may 2010.jpg|thumb|left|Officers of the [[South African Police Service]] with [[R4 assault rifle|Vektor R5]] rifles on parade in Johannesburg, 2010]]

Law enforcement in South Africa is primarily the responsibility of the [[South African Police Service]] (SAPS), South Africa's national police force. SAPS is responsible for investigating crime and security throughout the country. The South African Police Service has over 1,154 police stations across the country and over 150,950 officers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=South Africa Yearbook 2019/20 {{!}} Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) |url=https://www.gcis.gov.za/content/resourcecentre/sa-info/south-africa-yearbook-201920 |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=www.gcis.gov.za}}</ref> In 2023 the [[Special Task Force (SAPS)]] placed 9th at the international SWAT competition out of 55 law enforcement teams from across the world making it the best in Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mitchley |first=Alex |title=Best in Africa: SAPS' Special Task Force Unit places ninth at international SWAT competition |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/best-in-africa-saps-special-task-force-unit-places-ninth-at-international-swat-competition-20230226 |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref>

South Africa has the world's largest [[Private security industry in South Africa|private security industry]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Guy |date=2012-10-30 |title=South Africa has world's largest private security industry; needs regulation – Mthethwa |url=https://www.defenceweb.co.za/industry/industry-industry/south-africa-has-worlds-largest-private-security-industry-needs-regulation-mthethwa/ |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=defenceWeb |language=en-ZA}}</ref> with over 10,380 private security companies and 2.5 million private security personnel of which over 556,000 are active,<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 May 2021 |title=Security guards vs police officers in South Africa |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/489295/security-guards-vs-police-officers-in-south-africa/ |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=BusinessTech}}</ref> making it bigger than the South African Police Force and Military combined.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Eastwood |first=Victoria |date=2013-02-08 |title=Bigger than the army: South Africa's private security forces {{!}} CNN Business |url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/08/business/south-africa-private-security/index.html |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> Private security mainly provide assistance to the South African Police Service (SAPS) to combat crime throughout the country. Over the years there has been tremendous growth in the private security industry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Recent Growth In The Private Security Industry |url=https://www.buildingsecurity.com/blog/recent-private-security-growth/ |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=Building Security Services |language=en}}</ref>

As of February 2023, South Africa has the sixth highest crime rate in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 February 2023 |title=The safest and most dangerous countries in the world – and where South Africa ranks |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/661833/the-safest-and-most-dangerous-countries-in-the-world-and-where-south-africa-ranks/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20platform's%20ranking,by%20gunshot%20per%20100%2C000%20people. |website=BusinessTech}}</ref> From April 2017 to March 2018, on average 57 murders were committed each day in South Africa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/271997/heres-how-south-africas-crime-rate-compares-to-actual-warzones/|title=Here's how South Africa's crime rate compares to actual warzones|author=Staff Writer|website=businesstech.co.za|language=en-US|access-date=19 July 2019|archive-date=19 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719182304/https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/271997/heres-how-south-africas-crime-rate-compares-to-actual-warzones/|url-status=live }}</ref> In the year ended March 2017, there were 20,336 murders and the murder rate was 35.9 per 100,000 – over five times higher than the global average of 6.2 per 100,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dataunodc.un.org/GSH_app|title=Global Study on Homicide – Statistics and Data|website=dataunodc.un.org|access-date=19 July 2019|archive-date=15 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715203654/https://dataunodc.un.org/GSH_app|url-status=dead }}</ref> More than 526,000 South Africans were murdered from 1994 to 2019.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Gibson|first1=Douglas|title=SA's murder rate is worse than the coronavirus mortality rate|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/sas-murder-rate-is-worse-than-the-coronavirus-mortality-rate-43987823|agency=IOL|publisher=iol.co.za|date=3 March 2020|access-date=4 August 2021|archive-date=4 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804174704/https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/sas-murder-rate-is-worse-than-the-coronavirus-mortality-rate-43987823|url-status=live }}</ref> 
[[File:Smash and Grab Hot Spot, Retreat (South Africa).jpg|thumb|Smash and Grab Hot Spot sign in [[Retreat, Cape Town]]]]

South Africa has a high rape rate, with 43,195 rapes reported in 2014/15, and an unknown number of [[sexual assault]]s going unreported.<ref name="africaCheckRapeStats">{{cite web|url=https://africacheck.org/factsheets/guide-rape-statistics-in-south-africa/|title=GUIDE: Rape statistics in South Africa – Africa Check|access-date=11 July 2018|archive-date=25 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325164521/https://africacheck.org/factsheets/guide-rape-statistics-in-south-africa/|url-status=live}}</ref> A 2009 survey of 1,738 men in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape by the Medical Research Council found one in four men admitted to raping someone,<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8107039.stm| work=BBC News| title=South African rape survey shock| date=18 June 2009| access-date=23 May 2010| archive-date=17 August 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817141650/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8107039.stm| url-status=live }}</ref> and another survey of 4,000 women in Johannesburg by CIET Africa found one in three said they had been raped in the past year.<ref name="bbc1">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/258446.stm|title=South Africa's rape shock|work=BBC News|date=19 January 1999|access-date=30 May 2010|archive-date=2 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402230527/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/258446.stm|url-status=live }}</ref> Rape occurs most commonly within relationships, but many men and women say that rape cannot occur in relationships; however, one in four women reported having been abused by an intimate partner.<ref name="Abrahams">{{cite web|url=http://www.arsrc.org/downloads/sia/sep04/sep04.pdf|title=Sexual Violence Against Women in South Africa.|publisher=Sexuality in Africa 1.3|year=2004|access-date=29 February 2012|archive-date=18 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018202051/http://www.arsrc.org/downloads/sia/sep04/sep04.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Rapes are also perpetrated by children (some as young as ten).<ref name="medscape">{{cite web|url=http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/444213|title=Child rape in South Africa|publisher=Medscape|access-date=31 December 2010|archive-date=29 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229174131/http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/444213|url-status=live }}</ref> The incidence of [[Child sexual abuse|child and infant rape]] is among the highest in the world, largely as a result of the [[virgin cleansing myth]], and a number of high-profile cases (sometimes as young as eight months)<ref name="medscape" /> have outraged the nation.<ref name="time">{{cite magazine|last=Perry|first=Alex|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1680715,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-world|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090818063455/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1680715,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-world|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 August 2009|title=Oprah scandal rocks South Africa|magazine=Time|date=5 November 2007|access-date=15 May 2011}}</ref>

Between 1994 and 2018, there were more than 500 [[Xenophobia|xenophobic]] [[Xenophobia in South Africa|attacks against foreigners]] in South Africa.<ref>{{cite news|title=After a Week of Xenophobic Attacks, South Africa Grapples for Answers|url=https://www.voanews.com/africa/after-week-xenophobic-attacks-south-africa-grapples-answers|work=VOA News|date=6 September 2019|access-date=22 September 2019|archive-date=22 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922075016/https://www.voanews.com/africa/after-week-xenophobic-attacks-south-africa-grapples-answers|url-status=live }}</ref> The [[2019 Johannesburg riots]] were similar in nature and origin to the [[May 2008 South Africa riots|2008 xenophobic riots]] that also occurred in Johannesburg.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/gauteng-xenophobia-attacks-akin-to-2008-crisis-institute-of-race-relations-20190905|title=Gauteng xenophobia attacks akin to 2008 crisis – Institute of Race Relations|date=5 September 2019|website=News24|language=en|access-date=22 September 2019|archive-date=15 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915032441/https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/gauteng-xenophobia-attacks-akin-to-2008-crisis-institute-of-race-relations-20190905|url-status=dead}}</ref>