Woodstock crime report

Is Woodstock safe?

Q: Is Woodstock safe?

Mostly theft and car crime. About as many crimes recorded as a year earlier. Police in Woodstock recorded 2,380 crimes of these seven types in the 12 months to June 2026: 784 thefts, 726 car crimes, 471 robberies, 231 assaults, 116 break-ins, 38 sexual offences and 14 murders.

Woodstock · Salt River · Observatory · Walmer Estate

12 months to 30 June 2026Police figures released 28 August 2026

Compared with Cape Town, and over five years

Woodstock is about as safe as a typical Cape Town area for serious violence.

What kind of crime? Less of it is against people than across the city.

Share of the seven crime types recorded by SAPS, 12 months to June 2026

Against people: violence, robbery and sexual offences
Car crime
Theft and break-ins

Across Cape Town, 54% of recorded crime is against people. Here it is 32%.

How safe is it for you? About the same as a typical Cape Town area.

Serious violence per 100,000 residents a year, five-year average, all 63 police station areas. We count only the most serious cases, which are almost always reported, so areas compare fairly.

Woodstock ranks 30th of 63, counting from the lowest: 40.4 a year per 100,000 residents, against 72.6 across Cape Town. Robbery: 2,092 per 100,000 residents a year, against 556 across the city. This rate also counts crimes against visitors, so in a busy area it can overstate the risk to people who live here.

Getting better or worse? Break-ins down, all seven types steady.

Crimes recorded by SAPS per year, July to June

Break-insdown by a third

All seven typessteady since 21/22

Across Cape Town, the seven crime types fell 6% this year.

Show the numbers

Share of the seven crime types recorded by SAPS, 12 months to June 2026
	Woodstock	Cape Town
Against people	32%	54%
Car crime	31%	14%
Theft and break-ins	38%	32%

Per 100,000 residents a year, five-year average
	Woodstock	Cape Town
Murder	40.4	72.6
Robbery	2,092	556
Position	30 of 63, fewest first

Crimes recorded by SAPS per year, July to June
Year	Break-ins	All seven types
21/22	196	2,407
22/23	201	2,738
23/24	224	2,568
24/25	138	2,367
25/26	116	2,380

If you live here, the chance of a break-in at home is higher than in most of Cape Town, and lower than four years ago. Out and about, serious violence is about as common here as in a typical Cape Town area, but robbery runs well above the city's rate, so keep your phone and bag out of sight.

Crimes recorded by the Woodstock police station, published every quarter by the South African Police Service; residents and households from Census 2022. Latest quarter April to June 2026, released 28 August 2026. How this page is made

Police in Woodstock recorded 2,380 crimes of these seven types in the 12 months to June 2026: 784 thefts, 726 car crimes, 471 robberies, 231 assaults, 116 break-ins, 38 sexual offences and 14 murders.

9 news reports of murders or suspicious deaths in that time: 5 in Salt River, 3 in Woodstock and 1 in Walmer Estate.

Since 1 July 2026, 3 news reports of murders or suspicious deaths, not yet in the figures above: Salt River (July 2026), Salt River (August 2026) and Woodstock (August 2026).

Reported in the news

News reports

What made the news in the 12 months to June 2026. Journalists report only a small share of crime, so this is not a count.

Hotspots

News reports

Places worth knowing about, from the same news reports.

Salt River

5 news reports in the 12 months to June 2026, all about killings.

Keep phones out of sight in the street, and use ride-hailing rather than walking after dark.

See it on the map

Police figures

Police statistics · SAPS, Woodstock police station

Woodstock police station

The station covers Woodstock, Salt River, Observatory and Walmer Estate. Precinct boundaries do not follow suburb lines exactly. July 2025 to June 2026, compared with the 12 months before.

Woodstock police station
Crime type	Count	A year earlier
Murder	14	11
Sexual offences	38	49
Robbery	471	497
Assault	231	211
Break-ins	116	138
Car crime	726	656
Theft	784	805

In the police figures, “break-ins” are break-ins at homes only, and “assault” does not include attempted murder.

Drug offences are not included: police record them when they act, so the count measures police operations.

Similar areas, 12 months to June 2026

Area	Residents	Violence per 100,000	Break-ins per 1,000 homes	Car crime	Change
Kirstenhof	39,232	507	3.9	166	-18%
Durbanville	104,695	584	6.3	417	-6%
Rondebosch	18,250	592	10.8	325	-4%
Fish Hoek	28,148	597	8.6	151	-10%
Claremont	44,090	610	4.9	469	-2%
Pinelands	26,465	744	5.1	193	-14%
Camps Bay	6,520	1,043	11.9	109	+1%
Mowbray	10,951	1,096	14.4	240	-2%
Hout Bay	58,110	1,160	7.1	94	-8%
Table View	113,454	1,167	7.9	593	+9%
Muizenberg	66,065	1,293	5.9	270	-7%
Sea Point	24,283	1,421	7.3	1,116	+14%
Milnerton	119,996	1,537	7.7	557	0%
Wynberg	27,336	1,606	7.3	283	-12%
Woodstock (this area)	23,259	3,242	12.3	726	+1%
Cape Town Central	38,471	7,252	10.8	2,018	-15%

Similar areas: busy suburbs and coastal areas that people often compare with Woodstock. Change: crimes of the seven types against the 12 months before.

Over time

Police statistics · SAPS, Woodstock police station

Every quarter since July 2021. The shaded part is the 12 months to June 2026.

Murder

Sexual offences

Robbery

Assault

Break-ins

Car crime

Theft

Since July 2026

News reports

4 news reports since 1 July 2026, not yet in the figures above. Among them, 3 news reports of murders or suspicious deaths: Salt River (July 2026), Salt River (August 2026) and Woodstock (August 2026).

August 2026Murder or suspicious death, Woodstock Southern Suburbs Tatler
August 2026Assault Cape Town ETC
August 2026Murder or suspicious death, Salt River Southern Suburbs Tatler
July 2026Murder or suspicious death, Salt River Southern Suburbs Tatler