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Data attribution

StreetSignal is built entirely on open and licenced data. Every data source is listed below with its licence, coverage years, and how it is used. For methodology detail visit the methodology page.

SAPS crime statistics

2019-2025

Provider: South African Police Service, via DataFirst (UCT)

Licence: CC-BY 4.0

DOI: 10.25828/5MAW-4H90

Usage: Safety indices, crime volume analysis, crime category breakdowns, year-on-year trend calculations, and precinct-to-suburb disaggregation for all 744 suburb profiles.

Statistics are reported at SAPS precinct level. StreetSignal uses a proprietary crosswalk to disaggregate precinct data to suburb level. Counts for precincts with fewer than five incidents in a category are suppressed (Hanover Park Rule) to prevent re-identification.

City of Cape Town open data

2022–2025

Provider: City of Cape Town

Licence: CCT Open Data Policy 27781

Usage: Service request resolution times, complaint category breakdowns, MyCiTi bus stop locations, electricity consumption data, and suburb boundary polygons.

Use confirmed in writing by the CCT Open Data team. Only statistical distributions are published. No individual service request records or personal data.

CCT Household Survey 2024

2024

Provider: City of Cape Town

Licence: CCT Open Data Policy 27781

Usage: Household conditions data for 407 suburbs: service delivery, housing and tenure, environmental risk, economic structure, digital inclusion, and food security.

8,318 households surveyed. Only aggregated suburb-level statistics are published. No individual household responses are exposed.

Stats SA Census 2022

2022

Provider: Statistics South Africa

Licence: Stats SA standard terms (permissive)

Usage: Sub-place and main place population estimates used for per-capita crime rate disaggregation.

Only aggregated statistical distributions published. No individual census records used.

DBE EMIS masterlist and public school data

2023-2025

Provider: Department of Basic Education, via DataFirst (UCT) and EMIS Western Cape Q2 2025

Licence: CC-BY 4.0

DOI: 10.25828/kq3s-9k29

Usage: School names, quintile classifications, learner and educator counts, learner-educator ratios, and matric pass rate data for educational landscape profiles.

WorldPop constrained population (South Africa)

2020

Provider: WorldPop, University of Southampton

Licence: CC-BY 4.0

DOI: 10.5258/SOTON/WP00700

Usage: Population estimates for suburbs not covered by Census 2022 sub-place data. Used as disaggregation weight in the safety pipeline.

Constrained variant redistributes population to inhabited pixels only (100m resolution). Used in pipeline processing only. Raw raster data is not served.

CCT Development Focus Areas

2023

Provider: City of Cape Town

Licence: CCT Open Data Policy 27781

Usage: 27 priority investment zones from the District Spatial Development Framework (January 2023). Used to identify 43 suburbs within designated Development Focus Areas.

Development focus areas indicate City planning intent, not guaranteed timelines. Spatial intersection against suburb boundary polygons.

CCT New Development Areas

2023

Provider: City of Cape Town

Licence: CCT Open Data Policy 27781

Usage: 836 land parcels earmarked for new development, classified by intended land use (residential, mixed use, industrial, commercial, public service). Assigned to 244 suburbs via centroid-in-polygon spatial intersection.

Development areas indicate planning designation, not construction timelines. Complements Development Focus Areas (strategic priority zones).

CCT Prepaid Electricity by Suburbs and Tariffs

2024-2026

Provider: City of Cape Town

Licence: CCT Open Data Policy 27781

Usage: Free basic electricity proportion computed from Lifeline tariff connections for 357 suburbs. Indicates reach of the City indigent support programme.

Covers prepaid connections only. Credit-metered households on the indigent register are not included. Suburbs with fewer than 300 total connections are excluded as statistically unreliable.

CCT Health Care Facilities

2025

Provider: City of Cape Town

Licence: CCT Open Data Policy 27781

Usage: 157 clinics and hospitals. Used for healthcare access scoring per suburb (nearest facility distance, public/private split, count within 5km).

Facility locations are used for proximity calculations only. No patient data is processed or published.

CCT Places of Worship

2025

Provider: City of Cape Town

Licence: CCT Open Data Policy 27781

Usage: 1,645 registered places of worship with religion type classification. Used for community facilities count and religious breakdown per suburb.

Only aggregated suburb-level counts and religion-type distributions are published. No individual facility records are exposed.

CCT Service Requests (C3)

2025–2026

Provider: City of Cape Town

Licence: CCT Open Data Policy 27781

Usage: 2.5 million service complaints covering power outages, sewer blockages, water supply, street lights, and bins. Used for service delivery metrics per suburb (complaint rate, resolution speed, top issues).

Only aggregated suburb-level statistics are published. No individual complaint records, addresses, or personal data are exposed.

Other safety and crime platforms

StreetSignal is one of several platforms that publish crime or safety information about South African neighbourhoods. We do not claim to be the only or the best source. Our specific contribution is a transparent, research-methodology-first neighbourhood intelligence platform built from open government data under the attributions listed above, with every suppression, adjustment, and limitation documented on the methodology page. Readers making high-stakes decisions should consult multiple sources, including official SAPS releases, household victimisation surveys, and lived experience from residents of the area.

Data not used

SAPS precinct boundary shapefiles are subject to the Spatial Data Infrastructure Act and are not included in this codebase or served to users. Station names are displayed as plain text only. No Western Cape Government data is used. No individual property erf numbers are stored or published.

Errors and corrections

If you believe any attribution is incorrect or incomplete, contact us at [email protected].