Crime & public safety
How safe is Cape Town and South Africa for visitors? That's a question we frequently get asked and, while many other websites offer advice and tips, they do not answer the question.
Crime in South Africa is a highly-publicised issue where reality and perceptions are frequently confused. To what extent does crime affect tourists?
Have crime levels increased since democracy in 1994?
In the 'old' South Africa, statistics largely focused on white interests, the media's reporting staff were largely white, and policing focused on white areas. So any comparison is misleading. But there is no doubt that rapid urbanisation has been associated with an increase in crime.
Politicians are quick to blame the media for the perceptions created, but their own attitude to crime does not help.
The Mbeki government has achieved worldwide renown for its denial – about HIV/Aids and crime – but they do seem to be waking up. Last month the President's Office released the following statement:
"President Thabo Mbeki and the Presidential Working group from Big Business concluded... that crime was unacceptably high and agreed on a plan of action." That he's backtracked on the message he presented in Germany during the 2006 World Cup, gives hope that "a new reality has dawned".
What's of more concern is the attitude of senior ANC politicians to crimes within their own ranks. The Speaker of Parliament and the Western Cape's Premier were present to give support when one of their colleagues entered prison after being convicted of defrauding Parliament. Support for friends is one thing, but the public message they convey is something entirely different!
But then no nation is safe from its politicians – the USA and UK provide ample examples!
What are the main causes of and contributors to crime?
Despair, frustration, need and lack of education/opportunity. Poverty alone is not a cause.
Substance abuse – Over 70% of all crime and violence is drug- or alcohol-related and the reason for 95% of all trauma patients in hospitals. Half the people whose unnatural deaths were recorded in Cape Town in 2003 had blood alcohol levels over the legal limit. (Why do you think think we included advice on substance abuse as part of CapeInfo in 2001?)
As we pointed out in our August newsletter, R15 000 a day (R5.5 million a year) is spent on growing the drug abuse problem – that's what well-meaning visitors hand out to street children.
How widespread is violent crime?
An illuminating but sad statistic is that the majority of all murders are committed by people known to the victims, and in 61.9% of all cases was a relative. Commenting on family murders, a police spokeperson said: "No conventional policing can prevent this type of social crime... you'd have to have a policeman in every home."
What gives Cape Town or South Africa its reputation as a dangerous place?
We've taken a few tourist areas in Cape Town and the crime comparison with some poorer areas reveals the true state of life in South Africa over the past year.
| Crime category | Primary tourist areas | Poorer suburbs |
| Camps Bay |
Cape Town Central |
Sea Point |
Simon's Town |
Table Bay¹ |
Delft |
Kayalitsha² |
Mitchells Plain |
Nyanga |
| Murder |
0 |
14 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
87 |
219 |
46 |
284 |
| Rape |
5 |
76 |
25 |
8 |
4 |
187 |
280 |
205 |
325 |
| Assault + intent |
13 |
347 |
63 |
22 |
13 |
700 |
893 |
906 |
1 135 |
| Common robbery |
12 |
717 |
78 |
7 |
8 |
351 |
279 |
756 |
408 |
| Carjacking |
3 |
17 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
41 |
59 |
93 |
107 |
| Theft of M/v |
126 |
732 |
266 |
45 |
34 |
251 |
98 |
788 |
125 |
| Theft out of M/v |
366 |
3 471 |
1 010 |
140 |
153 |
311 |
62 |
1 596 |
100 |
| Drug-related crime |
38 |
1 184 |
552 |
17 |
128 |
598 |
235 |
3 064 |
299 |
Source: SA Police Services statistics for 2005/6 where you will find the full crime statistics
¹ covers the V&A Waterfront as well as the commercial docks
² excludes statistics from newer police stations – Harare and Lingulethu West – which also reflect the area.
So to answer the question we posed at the start, one can say that the primary tourist areas are relatively safe compared to other cities worldwide.
But these figures are frightening – the gulf between the more affluent and the less affluent is too staggering for words. Archbishop Tutu asks "Why have we lost out deeply African reverence for life?" Where is the traditional African respect for humanity and the sense of uBuntu?
Democracy and "freedom" may have been one milestone, but social change is a greater challenge which requires investment, education and personal opportunities more than policing and justice systems can ever achieve. (Tourism contributes to that.) It also requires moral leadership that sets an example.
Last updated: September 29, 2006
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