The survey revealed that fear of crime did not only have a female face, but that men also experienced vulnerabilities – thus portraying men not only as perpetrators. In addition, the study showed that Indian and black African respondents reported greater levels of fear than Coloured and white respondents. The study indicated that, over time, perceptions of safety improved for all race groups, except black African respondents, and that fear of crime was not only of concern to white South Africans. Back then, the author, Benjamin Roberts, wrote that the findings showed that the popular
notion of fear of crime in the country as being predominantly ‘white fear’ was lamentable in that it was misleading and neglected the needs of a majority who could not voice their concerns. The study furthermore produced some findings in terms of socio-economic status and fear, mainly that fear of crime was higher among middle-class households and that fear of crime was related to employment status. In addition, the study demonstrated that the character of the place that respondents lived in affected fear of crime.
