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Forest Heights

A suburb with moderate reported crime, below-average property values, and strong school performance relative to Cape Town.

Safety40/100Safer than 47% of Cape Town suburbs (relative) · ↑ WorseningProperty6-800kTop 72%Schools388% matric pass rateHealthcare6 facilitiesmore access than most suburbsCouncilAbove avg complaints1d median resolutionTransportMinibus taxi coveragewell-connected area

Data current as of

The neighbourhood

What's it like to live here?

Forest Heights is a neighbourhood in Cape Flats, Cape Town, where property values are moderate by Cape Town standards. The area's safety profile is below the city average for reported safety. There are several places of worship in the area.

How is the area changing?

In Forest Heights, crime is rising based on the most recent quarterly comparison. Property values have broadly tracked inflation between valuation rolls.

What should buyers know?

Forest Heights is served by schools within reach, and matric results sit slightly below the city average. In this area, the City typically resolves service complaints promptly. The suburb is well-served by nearby healthcare facilities.

Neighbourhood summary generated from StreetSignal data and reviewed by our team.

These statistics describe the suburb as a whole. Conditions vary between streets and neighbourhoods within any suburb.

For home buyers & families

Is Forest Heights safe?

Moderate reported crime

81st percentile among 744 suburbs · based on precinct-level data shared with 17 suburbs · Data: Q4 2025/2026 (Jan–Mar 2026) · relative index, not an absolute safety measure

Very highAbsolute crime volume
7 496 reported crimes per year · city median: 4 280
↑ 5.9% vs Q3 2024
A middle-of-the-range area where crime has been increasing over the past year. Contact crime (assault, robbery) dominates the reported crime profile. Review the breakdown below for a clearer picture.

Detailed data

Safety index (resident-adjusted) How is this calculated?
40 / 100
Contact crime rate
881,028 per 100k residents
Station population
107 810
Harm rate (per resident)
28/100
Harm volume (absolute)
56/100
Data period
Q4 2025/2026 (Jan–Mar 2026)
Source
SAPS via DataFirst · CC-BY 4.0

This data reflects crimes reported to SAPS Kleinvlei precinct, which covers Forest Heights and surrounding suburbs. Reported crime may differ from actual crime levels.Full methodology

Disagree with this score? Challenge the methodology ›

Source: SAPS via DataFirst · Q4 2025/2026

FOR BUYERS & INVESTORS

What do properties cost in Forest Heights?

28th percentile

The median property value in Forest Heights is R830K. Property values have grown by 5.7% per year since 2018.

A 5.7% annual growth rate (CAGR) over the valuation period.
Value band distribution – Forest Heights properties (GV2022)

Property values are based on the City of Cape Town's 2022 General Valuation roll. GV is an assessed value for municipal rating purposes; transaction prices frequently exceed GV. Recent sales transaction data and rental market data are not available as open data in South Africa.

Median GV2022
R830,000
Value growth (CAGR 2018–2022)
+5.7% per year↑ Growing
City-wide value percentile
28th percentile
Dominant value band
6-800k
Source
CCT GV 2022 · Open Data Policy 27781
Vintage
General Valuation 2022 (municipal valuation, not current market price)

Source: City of Cape Town GV2022

FOR RESIDENTS

What do utilities cost in Forest Heights?

Computed from City of Cape Town billing data
Water
R653 / month
1% below city median
Electricity
This area is supplied by Eskom. City of Cape Town electricity billing data is not available.
Water trend:Dec 2025: R653Jan 2026: R691Feb 2026: R582

Monthly cost per account from City of Cape Town billing data. Water coverage: 647 suburbs. Electricity coverage: 384 suburbs.

INVESTMENT ACTIVITY

Development activity in Forest Heights

↑ Increasing

Forest Heights had 29 building plans approved in the last three financial years (FY22/23 to FY24/25), averaging 10 per year. Most were renovations and extensions.

3-year approvals
29
Annual average
10/yr
Avg project value
R592K

Building plans approved by the City of Cape Town (2014-2025). Approvals indicate planned investment, not completed construction. This data reflects formal building activity only and does not capture informal construction, backyard dwellings, or building work undertaken without a formal plan submission. In areas with high informality, actual construction activity may be substantially higher than these figures suggest. Source: CoCT Building Development Management (DAMS).

FOR PARENTS

How are schools in Forest Heights?

3 schools nearby

Forest Heights has 3 schools within reach. The area matric pass rate is 87.5%, below the city median of 90.0%. Schools include Gihon Christian School.

Adjusted pass rate
87.5%
City median: 90.0%
Schools contributing
1
138 candidates
Median quintile
Q5
Q4-Q5
  • IND
    Gihon Christian School
    Independent · Grades R–7 · 7 learners · 3.5:1 learner-educator ratio
    PrivateQuintile 5School fees applyFavourable class size
  • Q5
    Forest Heights Primary School
    Public · Grades R–7 · 1,651 learners · 35.9:1 learner-educator ratio
    Quintile 5School fees apply
  • Q5
    Forest Heights Hoërskool
    Public · Grades 8–12 · 1,136 learners · 29.1:1 learner-educator ratio
    Quintile 5School fees applyFavourable class size

Quintile 5 is the highest government-funding category - fees apply, but these are the best-resourced public schools in South Africa. Rankings set by the WCED against community socioeconomic index. Learner-educator ratio (LER) is from EMIS Q2 2025; under 30:1 is favourable by WCED standards, over 40:1 indicates strained capacity. What quintile means ›

Source: DBE EMIS · Q2 2025

FOR COMMUTERS

How connected is Forest Heights?

Moderate connectivity

Forest Heights has 12 minibus taxi routes.

Taxi connectivityRanks this suburb's taxi route access against all 744 Cape Town suburbs. Based on routes matched by name and within 500m of suburb centre. Large suburbs may have higher actual connectivity than shown.Full methodology ›

Moderate connectivity
12 routes
44th percentile · 12 destinations
Blackheath, Eerste river, Eersterivier, Elsies river, Forest heights, Khayelitsha +6 more
Based on CCT minibus taxi route data. Routes matched by name and spatial proximity (500m). Methodology ›

Commute mode data is not available for this suburb. The CCT Household Survey covers 163 survey areas; this suburb is outside the surveyed areas.

Source: City of Cape Town Open Data · 2024

FOR RESIDENTS

How responsive are municipal services in Forest Heights?

Highly responsive

The City of Cape Town resolves service requests in Forest Heights in a median of 1 day, compared to the city-wide median of 1 day. This is based on 2,747 service requests to the City of Cape Town.

Computed from City of Cape Town service request data
Infrastructure problems get fixed fast. The median resolution under one day means Forest Heights residents experience responsive municipal service – a signal of well-maintained infrastructure and efficient complaint routing.
1
Median days to resolve
City median: 1
64th
Percentile
across Cape Town
30%
Resolved
same day
Sewerage overflow (20%)Customer : Reconnection Request (7%)Customer reconnection request (6%)Single street light out (6%)Stolen Bins - 240L (6%)
Service requests logged
2 747
Requests resolved
79% (2 179 of 2 747)
75% resolved within
4 days
90% resolved within
15 days
Source
CCT service request database
Community & faith

Places of worship

3 registered
Christian
3

Places of worship per suburb from City of Cape Town open data, supplemented with OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors). Coverage: 373 of 744 suburbs.

Municipal complaints

Complaints & top issues

Above city average
Complaint rate How is this calculated?
3206.1 per 1,000 households
Total complaints
2 732
Unresolved
21.0%

Top issues: Sewerage overflow (536), Customer : Reconnection Request (189), Customer reconnection request (173)

Source: City of Cape Town C3 service requests

MUNICIPAL FINANCE

Municipal debt in Forest Heights

135% above city median
Computed from City of Cape Town financial data

Municipal debt in Forest Heights averages R20 707 per account, compared to the city median of R8 815.

R20 707
per account
135% above city median
Trend:Mar 2026: R20 375Apr 2026: R20 707May 2026: R21 186
Breakdown as of May 2026
Property rates
R5 318 615
Electricity
R0
Water
R14 348 549
Refuse
R3 438 051
Sewerage
R5 004 069
City-wide cleaning
R131 012
Improvement district
R0

Outstanding municipal arrears from City of Cape Town financial records. Coverage: 741 suburbs. Per-account figures available for 582 suburbs.

FOR FAMILIES

What services are near Forest Heights?

Well served

Healthcare access

6 within 5km
Nearest public
Eerste River Hospital · Provincial Hospital · 0.8 km
Nearest private
Melomed Mitchells Plain · Private Hospital · 9.7 km
Public facilities
6
Private facilities
0

This suburb has public healthcare access but no private facilities within 5 km.

The nearest fire station to Forest Heights is Mfuleni, 2.2 km away. The nearest public pool is Blue Downs Swimming Pool, 2.9 km away. The nearest clinic is Eerste River Hospital, 0.8 km away.

Nearest clinic
Eerste River Hospital · 0.8 km
Nearest library
Eersteriver · 1.4 km
Nearest park / open space
Albert Philander Greenbelt 2 · 0.03 km

Fire station

2.2
km to nearest
fire station
Mfuleni
community station
within-5km
response
category

Cape Town has 32 fire stations serving 744 suburbs. Source: CCT open data.

Public swimming pools

2.9
km to nearest
public pool
1
pools
within 5 km
4
pools
within 10 km
Nearest pool
Blue Downs Swimming Pool

Cape Town operates 35 public swimming pools. Source: CCT open data.

Distances straight-line from suburb centroid.

Source: City of Cape Town facility registry

Nearby suburbs

Rosedale - Klein Vlei870m · R710K
47→
Tuscany Glen1.1km · R1.1M
42→
Hillcrest Heights1.3km · R740K
36→
Eersterivier1.4km · R690K
25→
Kleinvlei Town1.4km · R474K
31→
Similar safety & property profile

Similar suburbs

5 matches
GreenfieldsR6-800k
39→
AvonR6-800k
39→
Belhar Ext 7R800k-1M
42→
CamelotR4-600k
40→
RivergateR2-2.5M
40→
Explore surrounding areas

Bordering suburbs

5 adjacent

Suburbs that border or sit adjacent to Forest Heights. Each has its own safety profile, property market, and service data.

EersterivierForest VillageHillcrest HeightsRosedale Klein VleiTuscany Glen
Further reading

Related articles

Is Eerste River (Eersterivier) Safe? 25/100 Index (2026)
2026-04-24

Data as of: Safety: Q4 2025/2026 | Property: GV2022 | Schools: EMIS Q2 2025 | Matric: NSC 2025 | Facilities: March 2026 | Water billing: Dec 2020 - Feb 2026 | Municipal arrears: Jan 2025 - May 2026

Next refresh: when SAPS publishes Q1 2026/2027 (typically about 3 months after the period closes).

Data sources & legal attribution
SAPS Crime StatsCCT Open DataStats SADBE SchoolsCCT Service Requests

South African Police Service, via DataFirst (UCT). SAPS crime statistics, 2019-2026 [dataset]. DOI: 10.25828/5MAW-4H90. CC-BY 4.0.

City of Cape Town. City of Cape Town open data, 2022–2025 [dataset]. CCT Open Data Policy 27781.

Statistics South Africa. Stats SA Census 2022, 2022 [dataset]. Stats SA standard terms (permissive). Analysis is the user's own and not endorsed by Stats SA.

Department of Basic Education, EMIS (Western Cape Q2 2025; Gauteng Q3 2025). DBE EMIS masterlist and public school data, 2023-2025 [dataset]. Source. CC-BY 4.0.

City of Cape Town. CCT Service Requests (C3), 2025–2026 [dataset]. CCT Open Data Policy 27781.

Spot an error or have a correction? Email [email protected].

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Forest Heights, Cape Town

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