Park Road surged 16% while Sandton dropped 17% — crime shifted sharply across SA's busiest stations
Year-on-year % change in community-reported serious crimes, April–June 2025 vs April–June 2026 · Top 30 stations nationally · Crimes reported shown per station
+16.1%
Largest increase — Park Road, Mangaung (FS)
−16.9%
Largest decline — Sandton, Johannesburg (GP)
Increase in crimes reported
Decrease in crimes reported
South Africa's 30 highest-burden police stations recorded a broadly mixed picture in the April–June 2026 quarter: 14 stations saw crime increase year-on-year while 16 recorded declines. But the spread between winners and losers was striking — Park Road in Mangaung (FS) surged 16.1%, recording 1 793 serious crimes for the quarter (249 more than in 2025), even as Sandton (1 312 crimes) and Chatsworth (1 242 crimes) each fell by more than 16%, together shedding over 500 reported incidents. The divergence suggests local policing interventions or demographic shifts are reshaping the crime landscape, rather than a uniform national trend in either direction.
Daily Maverick · Source: SAPS Crime Statistics, 17 community-reported serious crimes — Top 30 stations, April 2025–June 2026
