South African annual crime statistics by local municipality, 2014–2024

The South African Police Service (SAPS) publishes quarterly crime statistics, disaggregated by tax year quarters (e.g., April–June, July–September). These datasets are publicly available for download from the SAPS portal (https://www.saps.gov.za/services/crimestats.php). For this publication, the quarterly datasets were downloaded and reformatted using Python scripts to align them with the calendar year (January–December). The data records crimes reported at police station (precinct) level across all nine provinces. Precinct locations were used to aggregate the data to local municipalities, providing an indication of crime occurrences at the municipal level in South Africa. Local municipality data offers the most detailed level of reporting and can be further aggregated to district municipality and provincial levels. These statistics reflect the wide range of crime types occurring across the country. As an integral part of the national statistical system, SAPS crime statistics play a crucial role in informing policy development and planning within the criminal justice sector.