South Africa’s small towns have an unforgettable warmth and charm.
But in multiple Klein Karoo towns, the scourge of drugs has taken over, deteriorating that welcoming essence.
The rise in drugs also means a rise in crime.
Drugs ruin the charm of South Africa’s small towns
Crime in Dysselsdorp, a predominantly Afrikaans town nestled in the Kammanassie mountains, peaked in 2025.
The town recorded the most crimes since the South African Police Service (SAPS) started publishing statistics in 2013.
Dysselsdorp is a farming community of 18 839 people, stretching 351 square kilometres.
Between Outdshoorn and De Rust, the town’s slower pace is slowly being overtaken by drugs.
In the year ending March 2026, Dysselsdorp recorded 124 more drug-related crimes than the year before.
Drug-related crimes were also the most reported crime in the area. They were reported 3 times as often as common assault, which took second place.
Naturally, as drug-related crime spiked, so did many other crimes.
Residential and business burglary, theft, and assault all increased.
In the first quarter (April to June 2026), things have not improved.
Instead, the crime data suggests Dysselsdorp could be on track for a record-breaking year.
Crime is up 28.1% in the first quarter of 2026, compared to the first quarter of 2025.
Drug-related crime is up 65.8% in the first quarter, and again it takes the top spot as the most reported crime in Dysselsdorp.
Now it is nearly four times as high as theft, the next most frequently reported crime.
Drugs Spreading Across the Klein Karoo
In neighbouring De Rust, things are not any better.
In one year, drug-related crime increased 190% in the area. Residential burglary, stock theft, and business burglary also increased.
In the first quarter, drug crimes nearly doubled.
In Ladismith, a tourism hotspot in the Klein Karoo, drug crime is up 12.9% in the first quarter.
Uniondale and Calitzdorp have also encountered a rise in drug-related crime.
Drug Trail to the Klein Karoo
This region has no major airports or ports.
The Klein Karoo isn’t on any major drug trafficking routes.
Therefore, the region should be, by all intents and purposes, sheltered from the kind of drug-related crime that has overtaken parts of Cape Town and the Cape Winelands.
But drugs enter these small and rural towns through two methods:
- Home-based manufacturing of drugs like crystal meth (Tik) and a heroin and dagga mix (Nyaope/Whoonga).
- Drug networks seeking safety from drug enforcement on major trafficking routes by setting up shop in smaller towns to avoid detection.
Dysselsdorp is 24 kilometres from Oudtshoorn and about a 90-minute drive from the small Mossel Bay harbour that is developing into a drug-trafficking route.