Women’s Personal Safety in South Africa:
A Practical Guide

Let’s be clear before anything else: violence is the responsibility of the person who commits it. Nothing in this guide is about what women “should have done”. It is about the practical habits and legal tools that professional protection teams use every day, shared so that you have more options and more control.

The festive season overlaps with the national 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children, which runs from 25 November to 10 December each year. It is a good moment to put these tools in place — for yourself, and for the women in your life.

E-Hailing and Getting Home

• Check three things before you open the door: number plate, car model and colour, and the driver’s face against the photo in the app. If any one of them doesn’t match, don’t get in.
• Make the driver say your name. Ask “Who are you here for?” rather than “Are you here for Thandi?”.
• Sit behind the front passenger seat: it gives you space, a view of the driver and a door on the kerb side.
• Share the trip with someone who will actually look at it, and tell them your expected arrival time.
• If the route changes without a reason, say so out loud and phone someone on speaker. If you feel unsafe, ask to be dropped at a busy, well-lit place.
• At home, have your gate remote or keys ready before the car stops, and ask the driver to wait until you are inside.

Nights Out and Functions

• Arrive and leave with at least one person you trust, and agree before you go that nobody leaves alone.
• Keep your drink with you. If you feel far more affected than you should after the amount you have had, tell your friend and venue staff immediately — that is a sign of spiking, not of you “overdoing it”.
• Plan the ride home before the evening starts, not at 2am.
• Don’t leave with someone you met that night to go somewhere private. Swap numbers and meet again another day.

Dating-App Meetings

• Verify the person first: a short video call before meeting, and a reverse image search of their profile photos. Stolen photos are the foundation of most romance scams.
• Meet in a busy public place and get there and back under your own steam.
• Tell a friend who you are meeting, where, and when you will check in.
• Keep your home address, workplace and daily routine to yourself until trust is earned over time.
• Anyone who quickly moves the conversation to money, investments or an emergency is running a script. See our cybersecurity guide.

Walking, Parking and Driving

• Phone away and head up when you are moving between the car and a door. That transition is when you are most exposed.
• Reverse into parking bays so you can leave quickly, and look into the back seat before you get in.
• Lock the doors as soon as you are in, and don’t sit in a stationary car on your phone.
• If you think you are being followed while driving, don’t go home. Drive to a police station or a busy public place and phone for help.

At Home and Living Alone

• Don’t tell service providers, delivery drivers or contractors that you live alone.
• Verify anyone who arrives unannounced “from” a utility, alarm company or municipality by phoning the company on a number you look up yourself.
• Use the intercom rather than opening the gate to speak to someone.
• Use parcel lockers or a work address for deliveries if parcels reveal your routine.

Stalking, Harassment and Abuse: The Legal Tools

You do not need to wait for violence before the law can help.

Protection from Harassment Act 17 of 2011

If someone is following you, contacting you repeatedly or harassing you — including by phone, SMS, email, WhatsApp or social media — you can apply at your local magistrate’s court for a protection order. It is designed to be an inexpensive civil remedy, and the court can grant an interim order quickly where you are at risk. You can apply even if you don’t know who is harassing you online; the court can direct the service provider to identify them.

Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998

If the person is a partner, ex-partner, family member or someone you live with, a protection order under the Domestic Violence Act is the route. The clerk of the court will help you complete the forms.

Document everything

Screenshots with dates, call logs, photos of damage or injuries, and names of witnesses. Keep copies somewhere the other person cannot access — a trusted friend’s email, not a shared family cloud account.

When the Risk Is Higher

Some women face a specific, known threat: a violent ex-partner, a stalker, a public profile, or a senior role that attracts attention. At that point general tips are not enough. A professional threat assessment looks at your routes, your home, your online exposure and the person of concern, and builds a plan around them. That can range from advice and a secured home to protected transport or a close protection officer during high-risk periods.

Save These Numbers

Put them in your phone now, and in the phones of anyone in your household old enough to use one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: Gender-Based Violence Command Centre (Department of Social Development); Protection from Harassment Act 17 of 2011 and Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998 (Department of Justice and Constitutional Development); South African Government, 16 Days of Activism. This guide is general information, not legal advice.