Lifestyle

The 10 worst areas for crime in every province in South Africa

Staff Writer

 ·17 Nov 2019

South Africa’s city centres are the biggest crime hot spots across the country, according to new data.

Crimestatssa.com has broken down the latest SAPS crimes stats for 2019 regionally, to show which areas across South Africa’s nine provinces had the most reported crimes between April 2018 and March 2019.

In South Africa, crimes need to be reported at the police station that is closest to where the crime took place, giving a fair indication of the crime levels in the general region the police station is found in.

It should be noted, however, that station statistics may encompass more areas than just where the station is located.

For example, a station in a remote area may represent the reported crimes of several neighbourhoods and small towns surrounding it, as it is the only station available to service those areas.

There are approximately 1,140 police stations in the country.

Crime levels are often tied to population numbers, thus is comes as no surprise that Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu Natal rank as the three provinces worst-affected by crime.

These provinces are home the three most populous metro areas in the country – and across all three provinces, the city centres had the most reported crimes.

While Gauteng has the highest number of crimes, the worst precincts are still generally found in the Western Cape.

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Gauteng

Total crimes reported for Gauteng in 2018/19 came to 563,794, with the top 10 worst precincts accounting for 17% of this (95,893). The worst area, Johannesburg Central, accounted for 2.5% of total crimes reported in the province.

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Western Cape

In 2018/19, there were 436,259 crimes reported in the Western Cape. The worst crime area is Cape Town Central, with 16,246 reported crimes (3.7% of the total). The 10 worst precincts together make up 23.5% of all reported crimes in the province (102,363 crimes).

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KwaZulu-Natal

KZN had 311,505 reported crimes in the period under assessment, with the 10 worst precincts accounting for 78,990 of those – or 25.4% of the total. As is the trend in most provinces, the urban centre is comes with the highest number of reported crimes: Durban Central, with 14,436 crimes (4.6% of the provincial total).

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Eastern Cape

In the Eastern Cape there were 191,777 reported crimes, with the 10 worst areas accounting for 47,597 of these (24.8%). The worst precinct is East London, where 7,155 crimes were reported (3.7% of the total).

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Limpopo

Total crimes reported for Limpopo in 2018/19 came to 116,768, with the top 10 worst precincts accounting for 35.9% of this (41,970). The worst area, Polokwane, accounted for 6.2% of total crimes reported in the province.

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Mpumalanga

In 2018/19, there were 116,340 crimes reported in Mpumalanga. The worst crime area is Witbank, with 9,526 reported crimes (8.2% of the total). The 10 worst precincts together make up 39.7% of all reported crimes in the province (46,151 crimes).

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North West

North West had 112,377 reported crimes in the period under assessment, with the 10 worst precincts accounting for 48,489 of those – or 43.1% of the total. Rustenburg was the precinct with the most reported crimes, with 8,108 crimes (7.2% of the provincial total).

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Free State

In the Free State there were 105,180 reported crimes, with the 10 worst areas accounting for 42,817 of these (40.7%). The worst precinct is Park Road, where 11,370 crimes were reported (10.8% of the total).

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Northern Cape

Total crimes reported for the Northern Cape in 2018/19 came to 49,204, with the top 10 worst precincts accounting for 48.3% of this (23,775). The worst area, Kimberly, accounted for 14.7% of total crimes reported in the province.

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Read: The 30 worst areas for crime in South Africa