The Fifth South African National HIV Prevalence, Incidence, Behaviour and Communication Survey, (SABSSM V), a population-based cross-sectional survey of households in South Africa, was designed to assess the prevalence and trends of key HIV–related indicators. The survey was conducted between January and December 2017 by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and provides information on national and sub-national progress toward HIV epidemic control in the country. This report summarizes the HIV epidemic and impact of South Africa’s national HIV response. HSRC has a long history of undertaking population-based surveys on HIV, starting with the 2002 Nelson Mandela/HSRC survey on HIV/AIDS, followed by the 2005, 2008, 2012 surveys. The 2017 survey is the fifth wave of the survey. ….more