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St James

Safety 26/100 Safer than 20% of Cape Town suburbs (relative) Property 5-6M Top 2% Schools 1 nearby Healthcare 3 facilities moderate access Council Below avg complaints 1d median resolution Transport Minibus taxi coverage well-connected area

Data current as of

The neighbourhood

What's it like to live here?

St James is a neighbourhood in False Bay, Cape Town, where property values sit in the upper quartile for Cape Town. The area's safety profile is among the more challenging areas for reported safety in Cape Town. There is a place of worship in the area. The dominant commuter mode is private vehicle. Policing falls under the Muizenberg SAPS precinct.

How is the area changing?

In St James, crime is rising based on the most recent quarterly comparison. Property values have remained relatively flat between valuation rolls.

What should buyers know?

St James is served by schools within reach. In this area, the City typically resolves service complaints promptly. The suburb has several healthcare facilities within reasonable distance.

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 St James safe?

Higher reported crime

19th percentile among 744 suburbs · relative index, not an absolute safety measure

Moderate Absolute crime volume
9 320 reported crimes per year · city median: 10 468
↑ 8.1% vs Q3 2024
Crime is higher than most of Cape Town and has been increasing over the past year. Contact crime (assault, robbery) dominates the reported crime profile. Check the breakdown below for specifics.

Detailed data

Safety index (resident-adjusted) How is this calculated? 26 / 100
Contact crime rate 614,033 per 100k residents
Station population 52 856
Harm rate (per resident) 15/100
Harm volume (absolute) 45/100
Data period Q3 2025/2026 (Oct–Dec 2025)
Source SAPS via DataFirst · CC-BY 4.0

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

Disagree with this score? Challenge the methodology ›

Source: SAPS via DataFirst · Q3 2025/2026

FOR BUYERS & INVESTORS

What do properties cost in St James?

98th percentile

The median property value in St James is R8.5M. Property values have grown by 0.4% per year since 2018.

A 0.4% annual growth rate (CAGR) over the valuation period.
Value band distribution – St James 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 R8,510,000
Value growth (CAGR 2018–2022) +0.4% per year
City-wide value percentile 98th percentile
Dominant value band 5-6M
Source CCT GV 2022 · Open Data Policy 27781

Source: City of Cape Town GV2022

FOR PARENTS

How are schools in St James?

1 school nearby

St James has 1 school within reach. Schools include Star Of The Sea Convent Primary School.

Matric results: pass rate data currently covers 157 of 744 suburbs. St James will surface when DBE suburb-level data is processed in the next pipeline run. About coverage ›
Q5
Star Of The Sea Convent Primary School
Public · Grades R–7 · 405 learners · 22.5:1 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 St James?

Private vehicle dominant

St James has 10 minibus taxi routes. The most common way people get to work is by private vehicle (84%).

Taxi connectivity Ranks 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
10 routes
40th percentile · 7 destinations
Fish hoek, Khayelitsha, Mfuleni, Muizenberg-fish hoek, Retreat, Vrygrond +1 more
Based on CCT minibus taxi route data. Routes matched by name and spatial proximity (500m). Methodology ›

Commute mode share

Anyone relocating to St James needs a car. The 84% private vehicle share is a socioeconomic profile signal, not a walkability score – in working-class Cape Town suburbs the same walking rate indicates structural necessity. Here it is lifestyle choice.
Private vehicle
84%
Walking
14%
Cape Town transport context: In South African cities, transport mode is a socioeconomic proxy – high private vehicle = affluent, high minibus taxi = working class, high walking = structural necessity not preference. StreetSignal reports modal share rather than a walkability index, which would misrepresent SA urban mobility. Methodology ›
Dominant mode Private vehicle (84%)
Source CCT Household Survey 2024

Source: City of Cape Town Open Data · 2024

FOR RESIDENTS

What are living conditions in St James?

Full municipal services

St James has a service delivery index of 98.8 out of 100, above the city median of 84.5. 100% of dwellings are formal structures.

Computed from the City of Cape Town 2024 Household Survey , Kalk Bay/St James survey group (67 households). direct.

30% of households experienced a negative event in the past year
› No material deprivation recorded across any of the 8 measured dimensions.› High digital connectivity: 88% of households have home internet access.› 15% of households have experienced flooding, indicating elevated environmental vulnerability.

Access to basic services

99 City median: 85
Piped water
100.0%
Flush toilet
98.4%
Weekly refuse
96.9%
Grid electricity
100.0%

Housing & tenure – Owner-dominated residential area

100 City median: 68
Formal dwellings
100.0%
Owner-occupied
70.1%
Rented
19.6%

Environmental risk – Elevated risk exposure

47 risk index · higher = greater risk · City median: 26
Flooding risk
15.4%
Fire risk
13.7%
Violent crime
0.0%
Non-violent crime
7.4%

Economic structure – Low material stress

Food spending share
39.8%
Share of income spent on food
City median: 35.3%
Comfortable, moderate discretionary income · 45th percentile
Hardship dimensions
0
Areas of material need (out of 8)
Grant income share
8.0%
of households receiving grants
Monthly savings
R500
Weighted mean per household

Spending priorities – top priority: Food

Food
69.7%
of households prioritise
Electricity
66.9%
of households prioritise
Petrol/transport
51.8%
of households prioritise
School fees
9.3%
of households prioritise
Rent/bond
6.0%
of households prioritise

Digital inclusion – Fibre-connected suburb

Home fibre
87.8%
City median: 46.5%
Mobile only
10.7%
No access
1.6%

Food security

Adult food insecurity
1.6%
City median: 18.3%
Child food insecurity
1.6%
City median: 13.0%
Food insecurity prevalence
1.6%
City median: 22.3%

Demographics & community

Avg household size
2.1 people
Avg children per household
0.1

Asset ownership

Computer access
80.4%
Fridge ownership
96.9%
Property ownership
7.1%
Geyser ownership
88.2%
Borehole access
20.9%

Home-based economy

Home-based business
13.4%
of households operate a home-based business
WFH full-time
3.0%

How St James compares

Food insecurity 91% below the city average for adult food insecurity
Material hardship 100% below the city average for material hardship
Income 4.0× the city average for median household income
Food spend share 13% above the city average for food expenditure share

Source: City of Cape Town 2024 Household Survey. Survey group: Kalk Bay/St James. direct.

Energy access
2%
Free basic electricity
5.6%
City median

2% of electricity connections in St James receive free basic electricity under the City's indigent support programme. Free basic electricity is a constitutional entitlement providing a monthly allocation to qualifying households. The proportion reflects the reach of the City's indigent support in this suburb, not a measure of poverty.

Source: CCT prepaid electricity data (2025/11/30 to 2026/01/31). Covers prepaid connections only. Credit-metered households are not included. 547 connections.

Source: City of Cape Town household survey · 2024

FOR RESIDENTS

How responsive are municipal services in St James?

Highly responsive

The City of Cape Town resolves service requests in St James in a median of 1 day, compared to the city-wide median of 1 day. This is based on 1,194 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 St James residents experience responsive municipal service – a signal of well-maintained infrastructure and efficient complaint routing.
1
Median days to resolve
City median: 1
90th
Percentile
across Cape Town
31%
Resolved
same day
Power outage (15%)Street lights out (10%)Single street light out (9%)Sewerage overflow (7%)Water leak (3%)
Service requests logged 1 194
Requests resolved 76% (903 of 1 194)
75% resolved within 5 days
90% resolved within 13 days
Source CCT service request database
Community & faith

Places of worship

1 registered
Christian
1

Registered places of worship per suburb from City of Cape Town open data. Coverage: 299 of 744 suburbs.

Municipal complaints

Complaints & top issues

Below city average
Complaint rate How is this calculated? 0.0 per 1,000 households
Total complaints 1 192
Unresolved 24.0%

Top issues: No Power (179), Street Lights - All Lights Out (114), Street Lights - Single Light Out (111)

Source: City of Cape Town C3 service requests

FOR FAMILIES

What services are near St James?

Well served

Healthcare access

3 within 5km
Nearest public Muizenberg Clinic · Community Day Centre · 1.8 km
Nearest private Melomed Tokai · Private Hospital · 5.7 km
Public facilities 3
Private facilities 0

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

The nearest fire station to St James is Fish Hoek, 3.5 km away. The nearest public pool is Muizenberg Swimming Pool, 2.0 km away. The nearest clinic is Muizenberg Clinic, 1.8 km away.

Nearest clinic Muizenberg Clinic · 1.8 km
Nearest library Muizenberg · 1.8 km
Nearest park / open space Upper Quarterdeck Road Pos · 0.32 km

Fire station

3.5
km to nearest
fire station
Fish Hoek
community station
within-5km
response
category

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

Public swimming pools

2
km to nearest
public pool
1
pools
within 5 km
2
pools
within 10 km
Nearest pool Muizenberg 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

Similar suburbs

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26 →
Tamboerskloof R2.5-3M
31 →
Oranjezicht R2.5-3M
31 →
Big Bay R2-2.5M
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Explore surrounding areas

Bordering suburbs

3 adjacent

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

Cape Farms District H Kalk Bay Muizenberg
Further reading

Related articles

Is Muizenberg Safe? What the Data Shows (2026)
2026-03-22
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St James · -34.1187°S, 18.4570°E

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