Africa’s most dangerous cities: See where South Africa sits
Here is a list of the 10 most dangerous cities on the African continent, with some more own goals being scored by SA.
South Africa lays claim to 5 of the African continent’s most dangerous cities. This is thanks to the alarming crime levels.
AFRICAN CITIES
Here is the list of 10 African cities with the highest crime levels, at the start of the new year.
Data to compile this list was obtained from Numbeo.
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HIGH CRIME RATES
Several cities in Africa are considered to be very dangerous. This is because of high crime rates.
Poverty, lack of access to health, education, and economic inequalities create conditions where people might turn to crime to eke out an existence.
These crimes include muggings, break-ins, hijackings, cash-in-transit heists, armed robberies and more.
SOUTH AFRICA
Sadly, the most crime-ridden cities on the continent are located in South Africa.
Three cities – Windhoek, Harare and Nairobi – in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region also fall into the top most dangerous cities in Africa.
South Africa dominates the list with 5 of its cities sitting at the top of the list.
Here is a list of the top African cities, with the highest crime index at the start of 2024:
| Position | City | Country | Crime Index | Global Ranking |
| 1 | Pretoria | South Africa | 81.8 | 2 |
| 2 | Durban | South Africa | 80.9 | 3 |
| 3 | Johannesburg | South Africa | 80.7 | 4 |
| 4 | Port Elizabeth | South Africa | 77.0 | 8 |
| 5 | Cape Town | South Africa | 73.5 | 16 |
| 6 | Lagos | Nigeria | 68.0 | 27 |
| 7 | Windhoek | Namibia | 67.6 | 30 |
| 8 | Harare | Zimbabwe | 61.0 | 57 |
| 9 | Nairobi | Kenya | 59.1 | 67 |
| 10 | Casablanca | Morocco | 54.4 | 93 |
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CRIMES IN URBAN CENTRES
Business Insider states that crime tends to be higher in urban rather than rural areas.
According to Numbeo’s updated crime index, city crime rates vary. Higher frequencies of crime were observed in densely populated regions, than rural or suburban areas.
DETERMINING DATA
The number of crimes committed in a certain area during a given period, often recorded per capita per year, is measured as the crime rate in that specific area.
This figure is generally shown as the number of crimes or events per 100 000 people.
According to Numbeo, crime levels between 40 and 60 are moderate, while those between 60 and 80 are classified as high.
And, crime levels exceeding 80 are considered extremely high.
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