Crime in South Africa

Crime in South Africa includes all violent and non-violent crimes that take place in the country of South Africa, or otherwise within its jurisdiction. When compared to other countries, South Africa has notably high rates of violent crime and has a reputation for consistently having one of the highest murder rates in the world. The country also experiences high rates of organised crime relative to other countries.

The majority of crime in South Africa occurs in its four most populous provinces; the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape—more specifically, in and around major metropolitan areas within those provinces.

While some major cities experience similar crime throughout their suburbs, crime in others is mainly isolated to specific neighborhoods. Johannesburg, for example, experiences a range of crimes across the metropolitan area, driven by many various factors, including poverty. In contrast, crime in Cape Town occurs mainly in a small list of specific suburbs, and is driven predominantly by gangsterism.

Crime rates in South Africa's cities may be skewed significantly by the type and location of those crimes. Furthermore, for the average resident and visitor, the experience in terms of safety when traveling around a major city in South Africa is likely to vary greatly between cities.

In the Crime Index 2026 ranking, the five worst-ranking cities for crime in South Africa, with their respective global ranks on the list, were Pietermaritzburg (1), Pretoria (2), Johannesburg (5), Durban (6), and Gqeberha (8).