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This report by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the Western Cape Government examines the impact of South Africa's 2020 COVID-19 lockdown on violence and policing, specifically focusing on 11 police areas in Cape Town. Using murder data, interviews, and a survey of over 5,000 residents, the study identifies a strong correlation between alcohol bans and the reduction of sharp-object murders and fatal violence against women, while finding that firearm-related murders remained largely unaffected by lockdown restrictions.

This policy brief examines the role of inter-sectoral collaboration and coordination in preventing violence in South Africa, using the Western Cape's After School Game Changer (ASGC) as a primary case study. It argues that violence prevention requires a holistic approach involving government, NGOs, and academic institutions to provide safe environments and life skills for youth, particularly in impoverished areas.

This report by the Institute for Security Studies examines the relationship between the physical environment and crime in South Africa's major cities. It argues that apartheid-era urban planning created fragmented, segregated cities that foster insecurity, particularly in townships and informal settlements. The document advocates for crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) as a necessary component of multifaceted crime prevention strategies, emphasizing that design interventions should target specific environmental factors that increase the risk of victimisation and the fear of crime.

This report evaluates the Community Safety Forum (CSF) project in the Western Cape, South Africa, which was launched in October 1998 to facilitate multi-agency crime prevention initiatives. While the project succeeded in establishing networks for information sharing and improving interaction between government departments and civil society, it struggled to translate these forums into concrete crime reduction activities due to a lack of decision-making authority and overly ambitious, non-actionable safety plans.

This report by the Institute for Security Studies examines how to map murder and violence in South Africa when official police data is unavailable or outdated. Using the Western Cape as a case study, it argues that because violence is clustered in specific areas, data-driven mapping is essential for effective prevention. The author proposes several alternative data sources, including health facility trauma records, community police forums, smartphone applications, and municipal emergency systems, to identify violence hotspots and guide interventions.