Cape Town, South Africa, suffers from high crime rates, partially due to separation of wealth and dangerous sections of the city. Though a major international tourist location, people who travel there should do research to be safe on their journey.
Cape Town is known to be one of the most beautifully located and culturally active cities of South Africa, but is also the least safe place to be. As it is a big city with many different parts, certain sections of it are safe, but others have high rates of all sorts of crimes, including kidnapping, murder and robbery. There are also staggering rates of rape and car hijacking in Cape Town and the rest of South Africa, and gangs and drug warfare are also a reality.
Part of the reason Cape Town is so dangerous is that South Africa has large social and economic disparities. This city still feels the residual effects of apartheid, which is still a factor in everyday life. While parts of the city are safe to walk around, this should be done in well-lit streets and while lots of people are out. Many of the outlying hills and suburbs surddounind the center of Cape Town are very poor, unsanitary and hostile. Some of the dangerous areas of this city are Greenpoint, Salt River, Seapoint, Cape Flats, Mowbray and Observatory. One of the most dangerous areas of Cape Town is Nyanga, where there is an unemployment rate of about 70%, as well as a huge breakout of HIV/AIDS amongst its residents.
As Cape Town remains a huge tourist destination, there is ample advice on how these visitors can avoid being a victim of dangerous factors. ATMs are common spots for con-artists and muggers, so they should be avoided at night. Taxis are often illegitimate, and mini bus taxis often drive uncontrollably and do not follow traffic laws. Though most murders happen between people who know each other, there have been attacks on tourists in this city, so people are encouraged to take precaution and travel in groups
The image beneath the Cape Town heading is a photograph of a civil disturbance in the UK. Not from Cape Town.
Your a fucking IDIOT!
1st the picture above is not from South Africa, it is not even from Africa.
Those are fucking European football thugs getting beaten by police.
2nd Cape Town is the safest of South Africa’s cities you wanker!
Do your research properly dickhead!
Your information is not accurate regarding cape town. Crime is very much in the townships not in the main tourist areas. I’d like to know where yr picture was sourced from as that doesnt look like cape town either. Also poverty is aspect but drug related is much more prevalent
Youre a fool my freind. Every one can see that that is not a picture from south africa. What an idiot you are!!!!!!!
I lived in Cape Town for 10 years and never experienced one incident of crime. There are many other cities I have been too that are much more dangerous. When I lived in CT I always got nervous when I had to go to Johannesburg. That city is more dangerous. Cape Town is safe if you stay in the right places.
This author is a total idiot. I have been to capetown many times and Beverly experienced any crime. Greenpoint is one if the nices areas of the town. I am sure that there are unsafe areas somewhere there but they are far from the tourist areas.
This author should be banned from writing completely.
This idiot has totally unfunded comments and should not be posted anywhere on the net.
I have visited several countries and I have to say cape town is one of my 10 favorite ones.
You are attracting very bad energy by posting shot like this.
The bogota, Colombia post was another piece of shit that you wrote.
You stupid fool!
Why is there a union jack and a British phone box in the middle of the picture of Cape Town?
If the author can’t even be arsed to find a picture of Cape Town I don;t hold out much faith in any of the information in the article.
What absolute rubbish. I holidayed recently in Cape Town – city, suburbs and surrounding countryside. I walked out in city streets alone during both day and night with no more precautions than I would take in any city in my home country of Australia (and I’m a small stature male bordering on elderly). I saw no threats. And Seapoint is about as dangerous as Brighton, England! What is the point of a website that allows such drivel to be published?
The photograph you used does not support the story: the photo shows a British telephone kiosk, a British flag and is clearly a football street riot scene in Britain. How does this support a story about Cape Town?
Also, I would like to add that I visited Cape Town in March 2010. I didn’t rent a car, but chose to hire a mountain bike and cycled everywhere.
Yes, there are dangerous suburbs of the city, broken down into streets within those dangerous suburbs where you might come across trouble if at the wrong time, however this is true of any large city anywhere in the world, and most of these areas, as a tourist, you would have no cause to visit.
The positives are Cape Town is visually breathtaking – a Mediterranean-style climate, eclectic cuisine, great nightlife and shopping, miles of sugary beaches and plenty of history and sights, coupled with some amazing luxury hotels and guesthouses. The locals were exceptionally friendly and helpful. If you want to find paradise, venture to the wild, Arcadian beauty of Sandy Bay, some 10-12 miles outside of Cape Town (near Llandudno), arguably one of the best beaches anywhere in the world.
Yes, be careful when visiting Cape Town, but don’t be paranoid about this city.
And if Cape Town is at the top of this list of the World’s Most Dangerous Cities, why not add London, Marseille, Naples, Dublin, New York, Istanbul, Cairo… in fact, why not add any large city, since every city has a poor area…?
First of all who cares about the picture. Second of all just because a bunch of tourist have gone to visit the nice parts of town and haven’t seen any violence and degeneration doesn’t mean it is there, only that they were properly guided by their tour guides. Any comparison of cities has to look at statistics and these are going to include the nice parts of town as well as the slums. There is no doubt that capetown has some very dangerous parts and the murder rate is high.
The fact that so many posters have visited the city and had a delightful time attests to the author’s recurrent theme: cities with a wide separation of wealth rank high on these types of lists. The tourists visited the nice areas not the slums
I live in Cape Town, and have lived here for 23 years. I have visited everywhere from the the townships to the richer suburbs, and have never been a victim of crime. I regularly drive around on my own at night, and have never been hijacked either.
It is true that South Africa as a whole has a high crime rate, but this higher incidence of crime is isolated to specific areas in South Africa, and is definitely nowhere near the highest in Cape Town. In fact Cape Town is much less dangerous than other major cities in South Africa. I have friends who move here from other South African cities because it is SAFER. If you were to put any South African city on this list, Johannesburg is a much likelier candidate!!
There are obviously parts of Cape Town one would avoid, as with any major city, however Greenpoint and Seapoint are some of the nicest and safest areas in Cape Town, with a great nightlife, and Observatory is an area I frequent.
Incidences where tourists are victims of crime are usually due to their own ignorance, and as long as one is aware of the people around them, and observant of their belongings, they’ll be fine.
As a South African and Capetonian this kind of ignorant propaganda seriously pisses me off!
Not even the picture is correct
– Terrible incorrect article- I have lived here 24 years- never one incident…. Just goes to show..
If you consider Cape Town the world’s most dangerous city then you clearly haven’t heard of Johannesburg where we live behind electric fences, have gated off roads, CCTV, alarm systems and private armed response.Hijackings are a common occurrence (even in your own driveway) and there are few open spaces where walking about is safe. Cape Town in comparison is a lot safer and nowhere near the most dangerous city in the world!(have lived there most of my life)
South Africa is a fools paradise. Lived there for 40 years and leaving was the best thing I ever did. I now live with my familty in peace and total freedom. I dont have to continually look over my shoulder be afraid my wife and children will be raped or murdered and dont live behind burglar bars, use security alarms linked armed response units etc etc. If you love SA you can have it! Its gone to the dogs, and I advise you to get out while you still can and experience true freedom.
Where’s the data on Cape Town’s crime statistics?
That is not a photo of CT, its obviously in Britan.
What an idiot.
My daughter from Florida wants to take a trip to south Africa ,kids are 6year old twin boys and one little girl 9years old . All have some medical problems. Is it safe to go to CapeTown or johansburgh? She really wants to go. Not sure how safe it is with3small children?… Could you give me advice?. Please
People, stop calling him/her an idiot!I’m pretty sure he/she just made a mistake, that’s all.
@Pam Stewart
I live in Cape Town with my two small kids (5 & 3 yrs old). Of course it’s a safe place to come to.
Literally millions of people visit here each year.
Please drop me an email via http://6000.co.za/about/ if you want further advice.
Im living close to Cape Town you are so crazy..and that photo is not even Cape Town.Just like all parts and cities in the world, Cape Town, just like other cities do have parts you try to stay out. Please email me [email protected] if you want more info I have worked as social worker in many areas you wont even consider to go to and never ever something happend to me. Cape Town itself is safe and its a beautiful country!!
This article most be written by a fustrated person with a personal vendetta against particular places and without base of fact. To say, for example, that Bogota is more dangerous than Ciudad Juarez in Mexico is a complete travesty. The article shoes that the writer(s) have not traveled to any of these places and write based on gossip.
WTF is with that photo, thats not Cape Town or any other part of South Africa that is friggin UK and that photo is of soccor hooligans which are a huge problem in the UK, the person who posted that photo is a dumb ass.
By the way Cape Town isn’t that bad and is actually pretty safe, iv’e been there and i loved it and would love to go there again someday and would love to visit some other South African cities to, the bad areas of Cape Town are mostly townships but the city itself is pretty safe and Cape Town is by far the safest city in South Africa, Johannesburg Durban Pretoria East London and Port Elizabeth are alot more dangerous then Cape Town and Cape Town is no where near close to being in the top 10 most dangerous cities in the world.
I have been to Cape Town! By far one of the most fantastic places to visit in the world! I have no idea who makes this articles but Cape Town is a great place to be, not a dangerous one!
In my personal experience, London is more dangerous than Cape Town, so the article is halfway there…
It is always prudent to take precautions when traveling anywhere in the world, but to say Capetown is one of the most dangerous cities in the world is like saying you’re one of the best journalists in the world, absolute crap! Capetown isn’t even the most dangerous city in SA, iv lived in SA my entire life, iv traveled to every corner of the globe and Capetown is safer than 99% of the places iv been! If you looking at crime Johannesburg my home city is worse than it! So before you slate a city with such proud citizens I suggest you do your research.
What a total idiot.. My God, how do you even get away with posting such trash??! Lol. Retard.
all u people that think you know cape town dont know shit. yes it is safer on a whole than joburg but the cape flats has one of the highest murder rates in the world. go ask people that live in the wrong areas about how much shit they see go down. cape town has a reputation for a reason, jsut because you have only stayed in the wealthy parts only means you have been lucky enough not to see the bad
So you lived in cape town for so many years and having never met crime? It doesnt means it safe. Plenty of people are living in Kabul and Baghdad for years without being attacked or robbed. That does not mean that these cities are safe. That means that they were not part of the unlucky ones.
I think the author is a complete IDIOT….
Cape town is the most vibrant place i have ever seen.Manenberg and Bontheuwel is dangerous,but that is out of tourist destinations.The cape coloureds live there and they are classified as dangerous gangsters,killers and murderers but even they have the utmost respect for tourists.
The coloureds even entertain the tourists in the festive season and dress up like clowns,singing and dancing in the city centre.WELCOME TO CAPE TOWN,CANT SEE YOU SMILLING,PUT ON YOUR DANCING SHOE,CAPE TOWN WELCOMES YOU……YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE SONG FROM YOU-TUBE IF YOU WISH.CAPE TOWN IS A GREAT TOWN AND ONE OF THE SAFEST PLACES IN AFRICA AND THE CLEANEST.
I am a seventeen year old girl from the states and this past summer I spent five weeks volunteering in Cape Town. I lived with a family in one of these so called dangerous suburbs and worked in Vryground, a township, every day. I took mini buses regularly, and never had a problem. All I encountered were friendly people, if you simply use common sense, I would not walk alone in dark alleys at night in my home New York City, then you’ll be fine. Implying that by being a tourist in Cape Town and happening upon the wrong area you put yourself in danger is complete rubbish.
And next time you’d like to use a visual representation of “the world’s most dangerous city” maybe you’d like to google a photograph from the right continent. Or perhaps actually visit the city yourself, this piece shows a complete lack of research and understanding, quite frankly I’m appalled. I’m seventeen and proud to say I have a better understanding on this matter than the incompetent fool who wrote this.
that can never be true we stay in cape town how can it worse
than Mogadishu(somalia ) yet there is war
that is misguiding
Ok,
So let’s see if we can do a little profiling on our esteemed author:
He places as little regard in other people’s feelings as he does in research. Well done there, bud.
Then, I think he wasn’t just born in the back of a speeding El Camino, but was then sent to beg for food when he was just a mere 4 years old. This spurred his keen interest in journalism but because of his Juvenile record, he couldn’t travel at all. So he started fabricating some stories about a bunch of places he’d heard of while his girlfriend was leaving him for an actual writer and the hooker he was paying felt more attracted to the dude sweeping the road-side motel floors he was staying in than to his inverted little……..oh, let’s say personality.
Anyway, of course I joke……sort of. Point is, it hurts when people write grossly inaccurate sh*t about you or your neighborhood.
Stop writing lies !!!
What a BS list. Just another way to scare people and drive traffic to your site.
this is really ridiculous…….. this editor is nothing but a shithead !!
I think they just work of the stats. Unfortunately Capetown is the only big city not run by the ANC and hence the stats are actual and not cooked. Just think what the rest of the country’s stats would look like if we have the real figures.
All is well in the land of Gulliver’s Travels! I read with interest the comments that were left, some for the “author” – obscured in anonymity – and most against. Fact is that Cape Town is the safest large city in South Africa. Disparity between rich and poor has nothing to do with this equation as this is more prevalent in Johannesburg and Durban. South Africa has a bad reputation with crime – grossly exaggerated by the media – but this is true for most countries. There are many more dangerous countries, and South Africa’s crime levels are pretty comparable with other safer places. However, that said it is advisable to be street wise, the crime in SA is a lot more violent than elsewhere not of higher levels. This article is just another example to never believe anything u read on the Internet. This is a cestpool of incompetent writers passing “expertise” off as gospel.
I’ve lived in CT for about 3 months. I took necessary precautions at start, sceptical as I was. I must say, if you’re a bit streetsmart, you should have absolutely no problems during your stay here
Cape Town center is fairly safe for tourists. Also a lot of the areas around it. It’s the townships that you should try to avoid, certainly by night! Go and have fun, but as in any country, use your brain 
god what a tool. there’s even a british flag in the background. you sir, are a complete moron.
I’ve lived in cape town my whole life and traveled extensively to many different countries. CT rules, without a doubt and if you’re calling it one of the most dangerous cities then I reckon you’ve probably never been or never left your moms basement.
South Africa is a very bad country. I’m from Nigeria, but south africa is the worst country on planet earth.
I live in Cape Town for over 15 years and I haven’t seen any crime. I even went to the notorious Cape Flats… Nope; no crime for me!
What a wanker that dude is saying Cape Town is one of the most dangerous cities in the world!!!
In fact, that pic looks more like Manchester or London; they are far more dangerous than the Mothercity!
Shawn – South Africans report housebreakings at several hundred thousand a year – really dangerous or corrupt countries don’t report ‘housebreakings’.
Alexander made a good point. Cape Town is split down the middle between good and bad areas, it must be one of the most segregated dangerous cities in the world, which conversely makes it look significantly safer than it actually is.
not the whole cape town is a bad place if you go look for trouble in the wrong/bad places ofcorse you’re going to get it. im a proud South African and people should stop living in al the negative things of South Africa… waht about the other places in the world that we don’t even know of?
The person who wrote this has never been to Cape Town otherwise he wouldnt post a pic from the UK!! Morron!!!
It does’nt make sense to me…
I live in Nyanga, people get robbed every hour(not exaggerated),murders occur on a regular basis,gangs rule the streets and burglaries happen every night!The people who are saying that Cape Town is safe should come and stay here 4 a day to see what I’m talking about
I have lived in many cities, in many countries
Cape Town was by far the safest one.
People are happy go lucky, hospitals are above international standards and there is not a murderer / thug lucking behind every corner!
Yes, go to the poorest of the poor areas and get ready for some unpleasant business, but that holds true for EVERY poorest of the poor area in EVERY country
That is why this beautiful warm sunny happy city is one of the top 5 tourist destinations in the world!
You are talking nonsense… Check the stats, cape town doesn’t come anywhere close to the top 10…. Also.. The picture with the British lag is a slight give away