The Eastern Cape’s Afrikaans communities are battling crime
· The South African
Many Eastern Cape Afrikaans communities have been sheltered from crime.
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However, as reported by The South African, Jeffrey’s Bay, a town with a large Afrikaans population, saw crime increase by 64.1% in three months.
The increase in crime isn’t limited to Jeffrey’s Bay in the Sarah Baartman District Municipality.
Across multiple police precincts, crime in Afrikaans communities has slowly risen in the first quarter.
Crime is hurting these underreported communities
Small-town crime is rarely reported in South Africa until something tragic happens.
But these tragic events aren’t isolated.
Instead, they form part of a larger pattern of rising crime.
In Humansdorp, where 90% of the population speaks Afrikaans, drug-related crime has been rapidly increasing.
Overall, crime in Humansdorp is down from its 2024 peak. In the first quarter, crime in Humansdorp dropped 2.1%.
Yet, drug-related crime hasn’t decreased.
Instead, it rose 18.7% in the first quarter compared to the same time last year.
Drug-Related Crime in Sarah Baartman District Municipality
The Sarah Baartman District Municipality is also the second-highest contributor to drug-related crime in the Eastern Cape, only beaten by Nelson Mandela Bay.
Drug-related crime is a precursor to violent crimes, thefts, burglaries, and murders.
Jeffrey’s Bay, where crime is up 64.1% in the first quarter, had an increase of 39.3% in drug-related crime; the most of any Eastern Cape police precinct.
Humansdorp also reported 3 murders, though this is a decrease from the 4 murders reported over the same period last year.
Likewise in Patensie, where 70% of the population speaks Afrikaans, crime is up 12.1% in the first quarter.
Patensie has one quarter of Humansdorp’s population, but reports about one third of the crime.
The most commonly reported crime in Patensie is theft, followed by serious assault. Drug-related crime doesn’t feature as prominently in the South African Police Service (SAPS) data.
Yet, it is slowly rising, according to the most recent quarter’s data.
The community of 8 547 people also reported one murder.
In Pearston, a town of 5 165 people, drug-related crime is up, and so is murder.
In Willowmore, drug-related crime is also slowly rising, as is the case in Stormsrivier.
Then in Kareedouw, where 73% of residents speak Afrikaans as their first language, crime remains unchanged.
But annual reporting shows crime in the police precinct is up 11.8%.
Theft and common assault saw the highest increase.
In 2025, crime in Kareedouw reached its highest level since SAPS started sharing crime statistics.
Hankey, Kliplaat, Paterson, and Steytlerville have all been impacted by a rise in crime in the first quarter.
But this crime data is only a snapshot of this year’s statistics. The second quarter will reveal if these are one-off spikes or part of a worrying trend.
It’s not all bad news for the Eastern Cape’s Afrikaans communities
In Wolwefontein, a town with a population of 1 358, only 2 crimes were reported in the first quarter.
The same is true for Baviaanskloof, another police precinct reporting single-digit crime in the first quarter.
In Jansenville, crime dropped 5.6% in the first quarter.
These communities spotlight how crime doesn’t have to overtake smaller communities.