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Police station precinct

Cape Town Central

city of cape town · city of cape town · Western Cape

Latest year 2025/2621 financial years of records

Recorded crime, 2025/26

10 512

−12.8%(−1 549) decreased. Compared with the previous financial year.

Across the 17 community-reported serious crime categories.

Years of data

21

2005/06 to 2025/26. The South African Police Service reports crime by financial year, which runs from 1 April to 31 March. 2024/25 therefore covers 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.

Area snapshot

The 2025/26 total compared with this precinct's own history. Averages skip years the source does not provide rather than treating them as zero.

2025/26Latest financial year
10 512
5-year average2021/22–2025/26
11 200
10-year average2016/17–2025/26
11 995
Historical high2005/06
18 160
Historical low2020/21
6 028

The latest figure sits between the historical low of 6 028 and the historical high of 18 160.

What the figures show

Plain-English statements generated from the calculations on this page. They describe what was recorded and nothing beyond it.

  • Recorded crime decreased 12.8% year-on-year, from 12 061 in 2024/25 to 10 512 in 2025/26.
  • The −12.8% movement in 2025/26 is at least 1.5 times the median of earlier comparable year-on-year movements (+6.9% in absolute terms).
  • Other theft accounted for 31.2% of recorded incidents in 2025/26 (3 277 of 10 512).
  • The latest figure is 12.4% below the ten-year average of 11 995.

Crime profile

Types of recorded crime that make up this precinct's latest-year total. This is a composition of what was recorded, not a judgement of how dangerous the area is.

Shares are of the 10 512 recorded crimes across the 17 community-reported serious crime categories. Selecting a category focuses the historical chart on that grouping. How this total is defined

Historical context

Recorded crime over the last 5 years, 10 years, or the full available series. Choose a category to match the profile above.

The total_recorded_crime aggregate.

What's changing

Categories with the largest movements between 2024/25 and 2025/26. A change is only listed when it is large enough in both absolute and proportional terms.

Recorded more often

  1. Kidnapping12 → 18+50.0% increased. Compared with the previous financial year.
  2. Sexual offences84 → 107+27.4% increased. Compared with the previous financial year.

Recorded less often

  1. Residential burglary328 → 206−37.2% decreased. Compared with the previous financial year.
  2. Non-residential burglary134 → 93−30.6% decreased. Compared with the previous financial year.
  3. Aggravated robbery721 → 516−28.4% decreased. Compared with the previous financial year.
  4. Shoplifting416 → 311−25.2% decreased. Compared with the previous financial year.
  5. Theft from vehicle2 425 → 1 871−22.8% decreased. Compared with the previous financial year.

Crime history

Highest and lowest recorded years for Cape Town Central, and the largest comparable year-on-year movements in the dataset.

Highest recorded year
2005/06 — 18 160 incidents
Lowest recorded year
2020/21 — 6 028 incidents
Largest year-on-year increase
2021/22 — +40.6%
Largest year-on-year decrease
2020/21 — −52.9%

Unusual movements

The latest year-on-year change compared with this precinct's own earlier comparable movements, not with a national ranking.

Latest movement · recorded crime

Notable

The −12.8% movement in 2025/26 is at least 1.5 times the median of earlier comparable year-on-year movements (+6.9% in absolute terms).

  • RobberyNotable

    The −9.5% movement in 2025/26 is at least 1.5 times the median of earlier comparable year-on-year movements (+5.1% in absolute terms).

  • BurglaryLargest recorded decrease

    The −35.3% fall in 2025/26 is larger than every earlier comparable annual decrease in this series.

  • Sexual offencesNotable

    The +27.4% movement in 2025/26 is at least 1.5 times the median of earlier comparable year-on-year movements (+17.1% in absolute terms).

Nearby stations

Geographic context only. CrimeMap SA does not assign a suburb to an official precinct.

Other police stations near Cape Town Central. Distances are from the station coordinates in the source file. A suburb or neighbourhood is not necessarily the same as a police precinct.

Crime detected through police action

Reported separately because these figures largely reflect how much policing activity took place, not how much crime was reported by the public. They are not part of the total above.

2025/26

Total detected through police action6 095+40.5% increased. Compared with the previous financial year.

Source and methodology

These are crimes recorded by police in the Cape Town Central precinct, not all crime that occurred there. Cases that were never reported do not appear, and reporting rates differ between areas and between categories.
Figures are counts, not rates. The source data contains no population figure for a precinct, so CrimeMap SA cannot show crime per 100,000 people and does not estimate one. A precinct covering a dense area will usually record more of everything.
Precinct boundaries change over time as stations are opened, closed or redrawn. A large movement in a single year can reflect a boundary change rather than a change in recorded crime.

Figures are crimes recorded by the South African Police Service. Read the full methodology.

Where this precinct is

The source file has a point for the police station, not an official precinct outline. Nearby stations are shown for context.

Open the national map

Compare this area with another

Put Cape Town Central side by side with up to two other precincts on the same measures.

Open the comparison