The German cockroach, Blattella germanica, is light brown, about 12 to 15 mm long and has two dark stripes behind its head. It lives entirely indoors, breeds very fast, and is the one behind most problems in flats, restaurants and kitchens. The American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, is reddish brown and can be over 4 cm long; it lives in sewers, manholes and stormwater drains and wanders into homes through floor drains and gaps, particularly on hot summer nights, and it can fly short distances. The brown-banded cockroach is smaller and prefers warm, dry spots higher up, like behind picture frames, inside electronics and in bedroom cupboards. Each one hides in different places, which is why identification comes first.
Cockroach control depends on who you are
A German cockroach behaves the same in every kitchen. What changes is who is responsible, who needs to know and how far the treatment has to reach. This is how it tends to play out in the situations we see most often around Cape Town.
Homeowners
Owning a free-standing house is the easiest position to be in, because you control the whole building. If you are seeing the big reddish kind, the real question is which drain they are using, and it is usually on your own property: the gully outside the kitchen, an old outside toilet, or a manhole cover that no longer sits flat.
Tenants
Report it to the landlord or agent in writing as soon as you see small cockroaches in daylight or egg cases in a cupboard. Who pays depends on your lease and on where the problem started, so a dated photo and a short message now saves an argument later.
Landlords, managing agents and body corporates
The gap between tenants is the best time to treat a flat: empty cupboards, no furniture and full access to the kitchen and bathroom. In a sectional title block, the hard part is logistics rather than chemistry. Residents need notice, keys have to be collected for units whose owners are away, and the refuse room, bin area and sewer manholes need to be on the job sheet too.
Restaurants, takeaways and food factories
A busy kitchen cannot close for a day, so most food businesses book their treatment after trading hours or on a quiet morning, and we do after-hours visits on request. Keep every post-treatment report in one file. If an environmental health practitioner walks in, being able to show what was treated and when counts for a lot. For ongoing cover, a pest control contract makes more sense than calling us each time a cockroach is spotted.
Offices and schools
Staff kitchens, vending machines and the drawer under the tea station are the usual hot spots. Ask the cleaning team to report sightings rather than reach for a spray can, and book the work for a Friday afternoon or the school holidays so the treated areas are left undisturbed for a few days.
Guest houses and holiday lets
A guest who finds a cockroach in a Sea Point rental will mention it in the review before they have checked out. Turnovers are tight, so the work has to fit between bookings, and an odourless treatment means the next guest walks into a room that smells of nothing at all.
What to have ready when you phone or WhatsApp us
- A clear photo of one cockroach, alive or dead, next to a coin or teaspoon for scale.
- Where and when you see them: the kitchen at night, the shower drain, a bedroom cupboard.
- Whether you share walls with neighbours, and whether they have mentioned cockroaches too.
- Everything that has already been sprayed, set out or fogged, and roughly when.
- Who lives there: small children, pets, fish tanks, birds or anyone with asthma.
That last point matters more than people expect. Aquarium fish and pet birds are far more sensitive to insecticides than cats and dogs, and it changes where and how we treat.
Getting the kitchen ready for the visit
Put food away in sealed containers or the fridge and clear the counters. Empty the cupboard under the sink and the ones on either side of the stove so the hinges and back corners can be reached. If you can do it safely, pull the fridge and stove a little way from the wall. Please stop spraying shop insecticides a couple of days beforehand, because fresh spray residue makes cockroaches avoid the bait we are about to lay. If you have a built-in oven or dishwasher, know where its isolator switch is, since motor compartments and plug points are part of the inspection. For more on the treatment itself, see our cockroach control page.
Quick answers
Do I need to leave the house during treatment?
For gel bait treatments, no. If residual products are used in certain areas, we will tell you how long to keep children and pets away, usually just until it has dried.
How many treatments will I need?
American cockroaches often need just one. German cockroaches usually need a second visit a few weeks later to deal with nymphs hatching from protected egg cases.
Can you treat a whole block of flats?
Yes, and it is the best way to deal with German cockroaches in a block. Treating one flat while the neighbours are infested usually leads to quick reinfestation.