Cape Town

South Africa · Africa

18Safety indexHigher concern

U.S. State DeptLevel 2 · Increased caution

Global Affairs CanadaLevel 2 · Increased caution

UK FCDOLevel 1 · Normal precautions

Smartraveller (AU)Level 2 · Increased caution

5/5metric categories covered

Open comparison

-33.92°, 18.42°

Regional locator · ring ≈ the figure's geographic unit

The safety picture

A plain-language read of the sourced figures below

Cape Town scores 18 out of 100 in our index, with only about 1% of the cities we score ranking below it.

Its homicide rate is 76.3 per 100,000, roughly 48 times the median for the cities we track. That rate covers the wider metro area and was calculated by us from a count and a population, so any one neighbourhood could sit well above or below it. Robbery is recorded at 542.8 per 100,000, and the police figure, as everywhere, understates how often it happens. The governments disagree: the UK keeps South Africa at its lowest advisory level, while the US, Canada, and Australia each raise it to increased caution. Their advisories flag pickpocketing and scams for visitors. In survey results, 37% of people said they feel safe walking alone at night, close to what the recorded data suggests.

Safety dimensions

Larger area = more concern

Violent crime100

Robbery & theft99

Travel advisory33

The radar shows the three sourced, comparable risk measures (homicide, robbery, the strictest travel-advisory level). Tourist petty-crime signals are a different kind of measure — how often advisories mention them — so they are shown as rows under Tourist-specific incidents, not as radar axes.

Homicide / general violence

Intentional homicides (per 100,000)

76.3/100k

Figure is for City of Cape Town (metro area), wider than Cape Town itself.

Rate computed by project-atlas: 3641 (count, 2025) ÷ 4772846 population (Statistics South Africa — Census 2022, 2022) × 100k.

Primary source: South African Police Service (SAPS) — Crime Statistics, 2025/2026 (April 2025 – March 2026)

Where this sits on the scaleExtreme

01·3·8·20·40 /100k

Among tracked citiessafer than 1% of tracked cities

76.3/100k

0/100k safest101.2/100k

Robbery (police-recorded)

Robbery (per 100,000)

542.8/100k

Police-recorded robbery undercounts true incidence — a meaningful share of robberies go unreported. Read this as recorded robbery (SAPS "Robbery with aggravating circumstances" + "Common robbery"), not total robbery.

Figure is for City of Cape Town (metro area), wider than Cape Town itself.

Rate computed by project-atlas: 25905 (count, 2025) ÷ 4772846 population (Statistics South Africa — Census 2022, 2022) × 100k.

Primary source: South African Police Service (SAPS) — Crime Statistics, 2025/2026 (April 2025 – March 2026)

Where this sits on the scaleSevere

040·120·250·400·600 /100k

Among tracked citiessafer than 5% of tracked cities

542.8/100k

0.4/100k safest3097.8/100k

Travel advisories

U.S. State Department

U.S. State DeptLevel 2 · Increased caution

Primary source: U.S. Department of State — South Africa Travel Advisory

Global Affairs Canada

Global Affairs CanadaLevel 2 · Increased caution

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — South Africa Travel Advice and Advisories

UK FCDO

UK FCDOLevel 1 · Normal precautions

Primary source: UK FCDO — South Africa travel advice

Smartraveller (Australia)

Smartraveller (AU)Level 2 · Increased caution

Primary source: Australian Government (DFAT Smartraveller) — South Africa travel advice

Perceived safety

How safe people say they feel, from official population surveys — a separate signal, not part of the Safety Index.

Feel safe walking alone at night

National survey

37%feel safe

37% of people surveyed · South Africa · 2022

Survey figure is for South Africa (country), wider than Cape Town itself.

Primary source: UN SDG 16.1.4 — feel safe walking alone at night (UNODC)

Tourist-specific incidents

How often government travel advisories mention each — a source-consensus signal, not a risk rate.

Pickpocketing & petty theft in travel advisories

3 of 3 advisories mention this

project-atlas count: 3 of 3 reviewed government advisories mention this. A source-consensus signal, not a measured risk rate.

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — South Africa travel advice (Safety and security)

Scams & fraud in travel advisories

3 of 3 advisories mention this

project-atlas count: 3 of 3 reviewed government advisories mention this. A source-consensus signal, not a measured risk rate.

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — South Africa travel advice (Safety and security)