South Africa boasts some of the world’s most stunning coastlines, drawing countless visitors each year. But with its mesmerizing beaches comes a concern for many: shark attacks. These incidents, while rare, are a topic of significant interest for both locals and tourists. We provide detailed updates refreshed weekly shark attacks in South Africa, to ensure everyone stays informed. Whether you’re planning a trip or living in this beautiful country, understanding the balance between the allure of its seas and the respect for its marine life is crucial.
Recent Shark Attacks in South Africa
| Date / Time | Country / Area | Activity | Name | Sex / Age | Injury | Species |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07-14-2023 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Watching the sardine run | crew | No injury to occupants, shark defated boat | ||
| 05-03-2023 19h15 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Easten Cape Province | Surfing | male | M /50 | Leg injured | |
| 05-01-2023 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Easten Cape Province | Diving for crayfish | Nkululeko Mphehlule | M /39 | Shoulder injured | |
| 12-30-2022 09h00 | South Africa ,KNZ | Diving/Shark Feeding | Ranier Kruger | M /26 | Hamd bitten | Blacktip |
| 09-25-2022 07h53 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Swimming | Kimon Bisogno | F /39 | FATAL | White shark, 13' |
| 06-28-2022 14h09 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Swimming | Bruce Wolov | M | FATAL | While shark |
| 04-01-2022 | SOUTH AFRICA ,KZN | Two bodies washed ashore, | M | Possible drowing and scavenging | ||
| 01-09-2022 07h31 | SOUTH AFRICA ,KwaZulu-Natal | Fishing for sharks | males | M | PROVOKED INCIDENT No injury to occupants, shark bit ski | |
| 07-14-2021 07h07 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Surfing | Jason Lemmer | M /38 | Injuries to leg and torso | |
| 04-14-2021 Afternoon | SOUTH AFRICA ,KwaZulu-Natal | Spearfishing | Jarid Norman | M /38 | Minor injury to head | 1.3m shark |
| 04-13-2021 11h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Body boarding | Robert Frauenstein | M /38 | FATAL | White shark |
| 06-16-2020 14h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,KwaZulu-Natal | Surf skiing | Sharon Armstrong | F | No inury, ski damaged | |
| 12-26-2019 07h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Surf skiing | Roger Swinney | M | No injury, shark bit surf ski | |
| 11-09-2019 06h50 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Kayaking fishing | Bradley Beamish | M | No injury, kayak damaged | White shark, 4 m |
| 07-10-2019 10h30 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Surfing | Dusty Phelan | M /20 | Leg injured | White shark, juvenile |
| 03-05-2019 16h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Fishing | male | M /46 | Lacerations to arm from shark caught in trawl net PROVOKED INCIDENT | 2.5 m shark |
| 02-02-2019 | SOUTH AFRICA ,KwaZulu-Natal | Fishing | 2 males | M | No injury to occupants, shark bit pontoon causing it to deflate. | |
| 11-11-2018 Morning | SOUTH AFRICA ,KwaZulu-Natal | Fishing | Bryon Machado | M /41 | Surf-ski bitten but no injury to occupant | White shark, 3m |
| 05-12-2018 11h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Surfing | male | M | Minor injury, marks on board | |
| 04-22-2018 09h40 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Surf-skiing | male | M /33 | No injury, shark bit hole in ski | White shark, 2.5 m |
| 04-03-2018 15h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Surfing | Ross Spowart | M /19 | Lacerations to left knee & lower leg | White shark |
| 02-24-2018 | SOUTH AFRICA ,KwaZulu-Natal | Scuba Diving | Elton Polly | M /38 | The shark & man simply collided; neither were injured | Blacktip shark |
| 10-01-2017 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Scuba Diving | Bradley Fick | M /31 | FATAL, but death was probably due to drowning | |
| 09-15-2017 Afternoon | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Scuba Diving | Wayon Love | M /25 | FATAL, but death was probably due to drowning | |
| 09-03-2017 Morning | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Swimming, poaching abalone | Sivuyile Xelela | M | FATAL | |
| 07-07-2017 15h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Surfing | Zoe Stein | F /13 | No injury, shark bit surfboard | White shark, 2.5 m |
| 04-29-2017 17h10 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Surfing | male | M /14 | Minor injury to right calf | |
| 04-12-2017 | SOUTH AFRICA ,KwaZulu-Natal | Scuba Diving | Leopold Mairhuber | M /68 | Fatal, coroner unable to determine if the diver was alive or had drowned when incident took place. | Shark involvement prior to death not confirmed |
| 02-06-2017 | SOUTH AFRICA ,KwaZulu-Natal | Fishing | Kayak fishing. Murray Van Wyk | M | Shark damaged kayak, no injury to occupant | Tiger shark |
| 12-19-2016 07h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Surf skiing | Ben Swart | M /55 | No injury, but ski severely damaged | White shark, 4 m |
| 06-23-2016 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Spearfishing | Rene Nel | M /43 | Injuries to left leg & right hand | White shark |
| 04-22-2016 08h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Surf-skiing | Dave Manson | M | No injury, surf-ski bitten | White shark |
| 01-29-2016 | SOUTH AFRICA ,KwaZulu-Natal | Fishing | Kayak fishing, Dev De Lange | M | No injury, shark capsized kayak | |
| 12-26-2015 Morning | SOUTH AFRICA ,KwaZulu-Natal | Fishing | Kayak fishing, occupant: Grant Wardell | M | No injury, kayak damaged | White shark, 3 m |
| 12-08-2015 Morning | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Swimming / Wading | Tamsin Scott | F /22 | Lacerations to both hands and forearms | |
| 10-25-2015 15h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Surfing | Stuart Anderson | M /42 | Lacerations to right calf, knee & hip | White shark, 3 to 3.5m |
| 07-19-2015 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Surfing | Mick Fanning | M /34 | No injury | White shark |
| 06-27-2015 14h40 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Body Boarding | Caleb Swanepoel | M /19 | Right leg severed, multiple lacerations to left leg | White shark |
| 06-26-2015 16h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Surfing | Dylan Reddering | M /23 | Multiple lacerations to torso & leg | White shark, 2m to 3 m |
| 05-02-2015 13h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Diving | Mathieu Dasnois | M /29 | Injuries to leg, left arm & both hands | White shark, 3.5 m |
| 03-26-2015 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Kayak Fishing | Kayak: Occupant Kelly Janse van Rensburg | M /36 | No injury but kayak bitten | White shark, 4 m |
| 01-23-2015 Afternoon | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Floating | Christiaan Nel | M /24 | Foot bitten | |
| 01-03-2015 08h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Surfing | Jason Krafft | M /15 | Lacerations to lower left leg, puncture wounds to sole of left foot | Raggedtooth shark, 1.3 m |
| 12-28-2014 Morning | SOUTH AFRICA ,KwaZulu-Natal | Swimming | 5 people claimed to have been injured by a baby shark | Minor cuts on feet | Shark involvement not confirmed & highly unlikely | |
| 08-01-2014 14h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Surfing | Matthew Smithers | M /20 | Lower limbs & thigh bitten | White shark |
| 05-04-2014 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Diving | 4-inch laceration to arm | Cow shark | ||
| 04-12-2014 Morning | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Fishing | Lionel McDougall | M | Lacerations to leg & hand by hooked shark PROVOKED INCIDENT | Raggedtooth shark, 2m |
| 04-12-2014 | SOUTH AFRICA | Shark watching | Inflatable boat | No injury to occupants, shark bit pontoon | White shark | |
| 03-22-2014 15h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Swimming | Friedrich Burgstaller. | M /66 | FATAL | 2 m shark |
| 12-16-2013 08h45 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Surfing | Thomas Browne | M /19 | Injuries to left thigh | White shark, 3m |
| 10-11-2013 11h30 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Swimming / snorkeling | Burgert Van Der Westhuizen | M /74 | FATAL | White shark |
| 08-08-2013 | SOUTH AFRICA | Attempting to free the shark | Tyler | M | Unknown, but survived | Blacktip shark |
| 06-16-2013 Morning | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Surfing | Kevin Bracey | M | Lacerations to knee | |
| 04-14-2013 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Free diving | male | M | Light scratch on hand/wrist area | Blue shark |
| 03-16-2013 09h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Fishing - 'tag & release' | Kobus Koeberg | M /30 | Lacerations to left calf and heel from hooked shark PROVOKED INCIDENT | Raggedtooth shark, 1.5 m |
| 03-16-2013 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Surfing | Troy Henri | M | No injury, surfboard bitten | |
| 03-03-2013 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Swimming | Fundile Nogumla | M /39 | Injuries to arms & hands | |
| 12-25-2012 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Swimming | Liya Sibili | M /20 | FATAL | Tiger shark |
| 07-06-2012 16h30 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Surfing | Jacque Mostert | M /29 | Lacerattions to left thigh & knee | 15' shark |
| 04-19-2012 12h30 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Body boarding | David Lilienfeld | M /20 | FATAL | White shark, 4 m to 5m |
| 02-20-2012 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Fishing | 8m inflatable boat. Occupants: Bhad Battle & Kevin Overmeyer | No injury to occupants, boat damaged | White shark, 7m | |
| 01-15-2012 15h40 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Swimming | Lungisani Msungubana | M /25 | FATAL | Thought to involve a bull shark |
| 12-21-2011 Dawn | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Kayak Fishing | Werner Coetzee | M /35 | No injury but kayak dented | |
| 12-07-2011 | SOUTH AFRICA ,KwaZulu-Natal | Surf skiing | Richard Kohler | M | No injury, ski damaged | Shark involvement not confirmed |
| 10-29-2011 | SOUTH AFRICA ,KwaZulu-Natal | Diving | Arm bitten by captive shark PROVOKED INCIDENT | Raggedtooth shark | ||
| 09-28-2011 12h25 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Swimming | Michael Cohen | M /43 | Right leg severed, left leg lacerated | White shark |
| 08-23-2011 09h11 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Surfing | Tim van Heerden | M /49 | FATAL | White shark, >6' |
| 07-22-2011 10h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Eastern Cape Province | Surfing | Denver Struwig | M /29 | Upper left arm & right leg bitten | White shark, 3m to 4m |
| 06-28-2011 12h00 | SOUTH AFRICA ,KwaZulu-Natal | Scuba diving | Paolo Stanchi | M /22 | Severe lacerations to hands and left leg | Bull shark, 3m female |
| 05-29-2011 | SOUTH AFRICA ,Western Cape Province | Surfing | Clinton Nelson | M /33 | No injury, board bumped by shark | White shark |
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What species of sharks are most involved in attacks in South Africa?
In South Africa, the Great White Shark is often highlighted in relation to shark attacks. However, there are various shark species in the region, and not all are considered dangerous to humans.
How can I stay safe from shark attacks while visiting South African beaches?
When visiting South African beaches, it’s essential to follow local safety guidelines. Always swim in designated areas, pay attention to shark warning flags, and avoid swimming during feeding times or when visibility is poor.
Are there any protected areas in South Africa where sharks are safe from human interference?
In South Africa, there are indeed protected areas where sharks are safe from human interference. Notably, the Gansbaai Marine Protected Area and the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area are sanctuaries for a variety of shark species, including the Great White. These areas, among others in South Africa, play a crucial role in conservation efforts, providing safe havens for sharks and fostering rich marine biodiversity.
