Find out where South Africa’s worst murder and robbery hotspots are
The Stats SA Community Survey for 2016 reveals which provinces in South Africa make citizens feel the safest – and where the most crime took place over the past year.
Every year, the SAPS provides crime data showing where crimes are taking place in South Africa – but the data doesn’t always paint the whole picture.
The community surveys conducted by Stats SA give insight into how crime affects people on a household level, and includes unreported crimes.
The survey finds that the vast majority of South African households experienced no crime over the past year with only 7.5% saying they did.
Unsurprisingly, the most populous provinces recorded the most crime – but what is surprising is that so-called “crime capital”, Gauteng, is only the second worst behind the Western Cape.
Nearly one in 10 (9.7%) households in the Western Cape experienced crime, followed by Gauteng with 9.1%. The North West with 7.6% was the only other province above average.
Only 4.2% of households in Limpopo claimed to have experienced criminal activity.
Provinces where households report experiencing crime
| Province | Experienced Crime | % of households |
|---|---|---|
| Western Cape | 188 000 | 9.7% |
| Gauteng | 448 000 | 9.1% |
| North West | 94 000 | 7.6% |
| Mpumalanga | 91 000 | 7.4% |
| KwaZulu Natal | 197 000 | 6.9% |
| Northern Cape | 24 000 | 6.8% |
| Eastern Cape | 109 000 | 6.2% |
| Free State | 57 000 | 6.0% |
| Limpopo | 67 000 | 4.2% |
| South Africa | 1 276 000 | 7.5% |
10.8% of white households said they had experienced crime, ahead of Indian households (8.4%), coloured households (7.7%) and black households (7.1%).
When it comes to feeling safe, Limpopo household responses reflect their experience of crime in the province, where almost 90% of people said they felt safe during the day.
Similarly, the Western Cape reflected the same data, with the lowest levels of safety during the day (70.7%).
However, at night, attitudes change, where households in the Eastern Cape are most afraid (30.5% said they feel safe), while respondents in the Northern Cape feel the most safe (47.8%).
It’s interesting to note that, despite having experienced the most crime in the past 12 months, white households feel the safest at both day and at night (83% and 49%, respectively).
Types of crimes experienced
Housebreakings, robbery and home robbery were the top three crimes hitting South African households in the past 12 months.
The tables below show the experience of each crime by province, in terms of number of households that experienced them (rounded), expressed as a percent of all households in the province.
Housebreaking
| Province | Experienced Crime | % of households |
|---|---|---|
| Gauteng | 213 000 | 4.4% |
| Western Cape | 78 000 | 4.1% |
| Mpumalanga | 50 000 | 4.1% |
| North West | 45 000 | 3.6% |
| KwaZulu Natal | 95 000 | 3.3% |
| Northern Cape | 11 000 | 3.1% |
| Free State | 26 000 | 2.8% |
| Eastern Cape | 46 000 | 2.6% |
| Limpopo | 35 000 | 2.2% |
| South Africa | 599 000 | 3.6% |
Robbery
| Province | Experienced Crime | % of households |
|---|---|---|
| Western Cape | 69 000 | 3.6% |
| Gauteng | 140 000 | 2.9% |
| Eastern Cape | 36 000 | 2.1% |
| KwaZulu Natal | 55 000 | 1.9% |
| Mpumalanga | 23 000 | 1.9% |
| North West | 22 000 | 1.8% |
| Northern Cape | 5 000 | 1.5% |
| Free State | 14 000 | 1.4% |
| Limpopo | 13 000 | 0.8% |
| South Africa | 377 000 | 2.3% |
Home Robbery
| Province | Experienced Crime | % of households |
|---|---|---|
| Gauteng | 111 000 | 2.3% |
| Western Cape | 42 000 | 2.2% |
| Mpumalanga | 23 000 | 1.9% |
| North West | 21 000 | 1.7% |
| KwaZulu Natal | 45 000 | 1.6% |
| Eastern Cape | 26 000 | 1.5% |
| Free State | 14 000 | 1.4% |
| Northern Cape | 5 000 | 1.3% |
| Limpopo | 17 000 | 1.1% |
| South Africa | 303 000 | 1.8% |
Theft of motor vehicle
| Province | Experienced Crime | % of households |
|---|---|---|
| Gauteng | 29 000 | 0.6% |
| Western Cape | 12 000 | 0.6% |
| KwaZulu Natal | 9 000 | 0.3% |
| North West | 4 000 | 0.3% |
| Mpumalanga | 3 000 | 0.3% |
| Eastern Cape | 4 000 | 0.2% |
| Free State | 2 000 | 0.2% |
| Limpopo | 2 000 | 0.1% |
| Northern Cape | – | – |
| South Africa | 66 000 | 0.4% |
Theft of livestock
| Province | Experienced Crime | % of households |
|---|---|---|
| Kwa Zulu Natal | 11 000 | 0.4% |
| North West | 5 000 | 0.4% |
| Eastern Cape | 6 000 | 0.3% |
| Mpumalanga | 3 000 | 0.3% |
| Gauteng | 8 000 | 0.2% |
| Limpopo | 3 000 | 0.2% |
| Free State | 2 000 | 0.2% |
| Western Cape | 2 000 | 0.1% |
| Northern Cape | – | – |
| South Africa | 40 000 | 0.2% |
Murder
| Province | Experienced Crime | % of households |
|---|---|---|
| KwaZulu Natal | 5 000 | 0.2% |
| Western Cape | 4 000 | 0.2% |
| Eastern Cape | 3 000 | 0.2% |
| Gauteng | 7 000 | 0.1% |
| North West | 2 000 | 0.1% |
| Mpumalanga | 2 000 | 0.1% |
| Limpopo | 2 000 | 0.1% |
| Free State | – | – |
| Northern Cape | – | – |
| South Africa | 25 000 | 0.2% |
In terms of the number of households affected by these crimes, black respondents suffered the most – however as a percentage of the population, white households are the most affected in every crime category – except murder.
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