SafeRoute SA shows crime hotspots across all of South Africa and plans driving routes that steer around them
SafeRoute SA shows crime hotspots across all of South Africa as a heat map and plans driving routes that steer around them, from a trip across Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria or Gqeberha to a long road trip. The route opens in Google Maps or Apple Maps with detour points on it, so the maps app stays out of the red zones. It's free, needs no sign-up and works on your phone.
Built from SAPS police-station crime statistics, weighted by harm (a murder or carjacking counts far more than a phone snatched). Each precinct's crime is placed around its station, where people live (WorldPop) and where activity is (taxi ranks, taverns, CBDs; OpenStreetMap), then weighed against everyone there by day (office and shop buildings, GHSL), so a busy CBD isn't red just for being busy. Of all inhabited areas, the worst 2% are red (deepening to the worst 0.2%), the next 2% yellow, the next 6% moderate. Tap a station for its numbers and rate per 100,000.
Enter where you're starting from and where you're going, keep Avoid: Red on and tap Plan safe trip. Then open the trip in Google Maps or Apple Maps. You can also draw your own areas to avoid, such as roadworks or a protest.
How accurate is the map? It's an estimate. SAPS reports crime per police precinct, not per street, so a zone shows where crime is likely to be concentrated, not exactly where it happens.
Pity a service like this must exist, but can be very useful for visitors to South Africa who don't know the different areas. Another great South African innovation borne out of a need.
See
https://saferoutesa.co.za
#technology #southafrica #crime #safety #tourism
