Police Precinct Crime & Demographic Data 2011
South Africa
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zaf-dpru-ppcd-2011-v1
Police Precinct Crime & Demographic Data 2011
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| South Africa | ZAF |
| Type | Identifier |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.25828/8bgt-1578 |
The Police Precinct Crime and Demographic Data, 2011, is a police-precinct-level dataset that comprises just over 1000 police precincts with almost exhaustive geographic coverage of South Africa with both crime records and socio-economic and demographic information for each precinct. This dataset was created by merging the South African Census 2011 small-area-layer information from the 2011 Community Profiles dataset with South African Police Service (SAPS) crime records at the police precinct level. There are 39 different types of crime records from 2011 and from the previous five years and 67 different demographic and socio-economic variables. The dataset was created as part of a project at the Development Policy Research Unit (DPRU) funded by the World Bank that produced a journal article about how precinct-level income and inequality varies with burglary rates. The data are released in two datasets, one at the precinct level (n=1152) and one in which the precincts in the eight main metropolitan areas are merged together since precincts get very small in terms of square kilometre area within metros (n = 885). Syntax to create the data and each variable is also released.
Administrative records data [adm]
The unit of analysis for the ppcd-2011-v1 data file is the police precinct (SAPS police station service area) - one observation per precinct. On the other hand, the ppcd-metros-2011-v1 data file is the police precinct, with metro precinct aggregated to 8 metro-level (City of Cape Town, City of Johannesburg, City of Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, Buffalo City, Nelson Mandela Bay, Mangaung). Non-metro precincts remain at precinct level.
Version
v1.1: Edited, anonymised data for public distribution
2026
DataFirst
Scope
The Census 2011 data collection occurred between 9 - 11 October 2011 but reflects person-level conditions on Census Night (10 October 2011). The SAPS crime statistics (counts of reported crime per station) were collected continuously by SAPS over the financial year 1 April 2011 - 31 March 2012, with the official annual release published in September 2012. The historical SAPS crime panel was continuously recorded over financial years 2006/07 - 2010/11 (1 April 2006 - 31 March 2011), released annually.
Coverage
Coverage is national (all nine provinces of South Africa).
There is several notes to consider:
- Cross-boundary Small Area Layers (SALs) were corrected for 24 specific SAL codes that were misallocated between adjacent precincts (e.g., Chalumna, Duncan Village, Fort Brown, Kenton-on-Sea, Kinkelbos, Khubusi Drift, Thomas River, New Brighton, Swartkops, Kuruman, Kleinsee, Modder River, Heidedal, Maydon Wharf, Mayville-KZN, Vorsterhoop, Vaal Marina, Hekpoort, OR Tambo, Protea Glen, Boschkop, Rietgat, Kaapmuiden, Cumberland).
The lowest level of geographic aggregation for the ppcd-2011-v1 data file is the SAPS police precinct (police station service area), which is built from Census 2011 Small Area Layer (SAL) units mapped to police precincts. While for the ppcd-metro-2011-v1 data file it is the police precinct, with the 8 metropolitan municipalities collapsed into single metro-level observations. Note that non-metro stations retain precinct-level granularity.
All South African Police Service (SAPS) police precincts operational in the 2011/2012 SAPS reporting year, linked to the resident population enumerated in Census 2011 within each precinct's boundary
| West | East | South | North |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16.4500° | 32.8917° | −34.8333° | −22.1265° |
Producers and sponsors
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Dr Amy Thornton | DataFirst |
| Prof Haroon Bhorat | Development Policy Research Unit (DPRU) |
| Dr Adaiah Lilenstein | Academic Research Collective (ARC) |
| Jabulile Monnakgotla | Development Policy Research Unit (DPRU) |
| Kirsten van der Zee | Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products (REEP) |
| Name | Abbreviation |
|---|---|
| World Bank | WB |
Data Collection
Cross-section [cross section]
- Census 2011 inputs: decennial (every 10 years; the previous Census was 2001).
- SAPS crime counts: annual (SAPS financial year, April - March), released annually.
- SAPS provincial resource indicators: annual (SAPS Annual Report).
- The combined data itself is one-off/ not periodic. It is a single 2011/12 cross-section was constructed for this study and is not updated on a recurring schedule.
| Name | Affiliation | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| Statistics South Africa | Government of South Africa | StatsSA |
| South Africa Police Service | Government of South Africa | SAPS |
quality_standards
See the Guide document on the Downloads tab which has quality notes for particular variables.
Access policy
DataFirst data repository
Data Access
Thornton, A., Bhorat, H., Monnakgotla, J., Lilenstein., A., van der Zee, K. Police Precinct Crime & Demographics 2011 [dataset]. Version 1. Cape Town: DataFirst, DPRU, ARC and REEP [producers], 2025. Cape Town: DataFirst [distributor], 2026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25828/8bgt-1578
Researchers agree to cite the data in their publications using the recommended citation in this metadata record, including the DOI (unique dataset identifier).
Researchers agree to send DataFirst a link to any research publication based on the data.
Metadata production
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| DataFirst | University of Cape Town |
2026
Metadata version
Version 1