Common Assault in Garden Route
SAPS definition: “Common Assault is the unlawful and intentional – a) Direct and indirect application of force to the body of another person, or b) Threat of application of immediate personal violence to another, in circumstances in which the threatened person is prevailed upon to believe that the person who is threatening him has the intention and power to carry out his threat.” — SAPS Crime Definitions (2012), as published by the Institute for Security Studies.
SAPS recorded 1,054 common assault cases across 21 Garden Route precincts in Apr–Jun 2026, down 13.3% vs Apr–Jun 2025. That is 11% of the Western Cape's 9,408 total.
Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): 1,054 common assault cases, down 13.3% vs Apr–Jun 2025.
Ranked by precinct below.
Note: Raw reported counts — not adjusted for population. Precincts serving more residents will naturally report more cases.
Is common assault rising or falling in Garden Route?
Dashed: Apr–Jun 2026 only (1 of 4 quarters published) — a partial year, not comparable with the full years before it.
Which Garden Route precincts report the most common assault?
Bars coloured by direction vs the previous year: green = improved, red = worsened, grey = within ±2%. Top 15 of 21 precincts shown; full list in the table below. Sorted by Apr–Jun 2026 count.
All Garden Route precincts
| Precinct | Apr–Jun 2026 | vs Apr–Jun 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Knysna | 153 | -3.2% |
| Thembalethu | 111 | -7.5% |
| Pacaltsdorp | 110 | +5.8% |
| Kwanonqaba | 96 | -22.6% |
| Oudtshoorn | 87 | -24.3% |
| George | 76 | -23.2% |
| Conville | 69 | -24.2% |
| Plettenberg Bay | 39 | +5.4% |
| Da Gamaskop | 38 | -9.5% |
| Ladismith | 35 | -35.2% |
| Albertinia | 31 | -3.1% |
| Dysselsdorp | 30 | +66.7% |
| Groot Brakrivier | 29 | -3.3% |
| Kwanokuthula | 24 | -36.8% |
| Uniondale | 22 | +15.8% |
| Heidelberg(C) | 21 | -46.2% |
| Mossel Bay | 21 | +10.5% |
| Riversdale | 21 | -19.2% |
| Calitzdorp | 14 | -22.2% |
| De Rust | 14 | -41.7% |
| Still Bay | 13 | +62.5% |