A number of South African cities have been listed on statistics website Numbeo’s Crime Index by City 2020 Mid-Year. According to the list, Pretoria is the third most dangerous city to live in worldwide after Caracas in Venezuela and Port Moresby in New Guinea.
Durban was listed in fourth place, while Johannesburg is in fifth place followed by Pietermaritzburg in the seventh spot. Port Elizabeth is ranked in 14th place and Cape Town at 19th.
The index is generated by entries from residents in different cities, and their perceptions of their safety there rather than actual crime statistics.
“To generate a current index, we use data up to 36 months old,” Numbeo said. “We only include cities for which there are at least a certain number of contributions. Crime Index is an estimation of the overall level of crime in a given city or country.”
“We consider crime levels lower than 20 as very low, crime levels between 20 and 40 as being low, crime levels between 40 and 60 as being moderate, crime levels between 60 and 80 as being high, and finally, crime levels higher than 80 as being very high,” it added.
The ranking comprises of 369 cities and Doha, Qatar is the safest according to data from its residents. It is followed by Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, as well as Taipei, Taiwan and Quebec City in Canada.
South Africa’s crime statistics, which were released in July 2020 by the Minister of Police Bheki Cele, revealed that the country’s murder rate had increased. The annual report examined ten-year trends associated with various crimes.
While a total of 15 893 murders were recorded in 2010, numbers climbed to 21 325 in the 2019/2020 financial year.
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