Crime is up 57% in one of Durban’s safest suburbs

Most of eThekwini’s 42 police precincts are improving.

In Durban Central, crime is down 13.2% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year.

But southwest of Durban’s central business district (CBD) is Malvern, where crime is up 57% in the first quarter of 2026.

The Durban Suburb where crime is multiplying

Between April and June 2025, 226 crimes were reported in Malvern.

Between April and June 2026, 355 crimes were reported, a 57.1% increase.

Despite this, Malvern remains one of eThekwini’s safest suburbs.

In the South African Police Service (SAPS) quarterly reporting, the suburb placed 34th among the municipality’s 42 police precincts.

This means 33 police precincts had worse crime statistics, despite Malvern’s steep rise.

Most of Malvern’s crime is categorised as “all theft not mentioned elsewhere” – 101 such crimes were reported in the first quarter.

Next on the list are commercial crime and common assault, with 72 and 30 crimes reported, respectively.

There were 28 residential burglaries, 19 aggravated robberies, and 13 drug-related crimes.

Two murders were also reported in the area.

Despite the first quarter’s dramatic increase, crime is down 30.4% over 10 years.

However, should this recent spike continue, some of these gains could disappear.

If other quarters mimic the first quarter, crime in the area could rise 27.4% by the end of the year, returning to figures from 2014-2015.

Durban’s Safest Suburbs

Malvern has a 2.57% crime rate as of 2026.

The suburb ranks among eThekwini’s 10 safest police precincts, a list which includes Folweni and Lamontville.

Mayville is also in this category.

The police precinct includes suburbs like Mayville, Springfield and parts of Overberg and Westridge.

Crime decreased by 8.4% between the first quarter of this year and the first quarter of last year.

Although the Mayville police precinct reported 4 more crimes than Malvern, the area had half as many commercial crimes, residential burglaries, and murders.

Mayville has a 3.99% crime rate.