Reflections on crime after 25 years as a travel organizer in Cape Town. This is a letter to share my personal reflections on safety in our beautiful city Cape Town.

This is not a formal company statement, but rather my own view on if I find Cape Town is safe to visit. While the city is renowned for its beauty and vibrant culture, it does at the same time have a notable crime rate, as can be seen from various statistics. Having said that, it’s essential to understand the context behind these numbers.

Since 1998, our company has organized group trips to Southern Africa, often including a few nights in Cape Town in the itinerary. In two decades, we’ve hosted tens of thousands of guests, with only a few crime-related incidents, primarily theft from hotel rooms or occasional street robberies involving intoxicated individuals walking alone at night. (Not a smart thing to do anywhere in the world, if you ask me.) How come we’ve had so few incidents over the years?

Majority of the crimes in Cape Town occur in suburbs like the Cape Flats and Townships, where gang violence is prevalent. These areas are far from the tourist and residential zones where we operate. If we exclude these high-crime areas, Cape Town is, in my point of view, just as safe as any other major cities in Europe or America.

So, is Cape Town safe to visit? Of course it is! I’d compare it to visiting New York, London, or Paris – using common sense is key as you would in any of these major cities. Avoid wandering alone at night in unfamiliar areas, secure your valuables, use reputable transportation like Uber, keep an eye on your belongings and stay alert of your surroundings and so on…

Cape Town is a fantastic city where our guests have enjoyed their stay without feeling unsafe. We look forward to welcoming you and hope you’ll fall in love with it as much as we have!


Yours Sincerely,