Violent crime drops in SA, yet 58 murders a day still recorded

Pretoria – South Africa recorded a 9.5% decrease in murders during the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, with 546 fewer people killed compared with the same period last year, Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia announced on Friday.

Presenting the country’s crime statistics for the period between January 1 and March 31, 2026, Cachalia said murders declined from 5 727 cases in the corresponding quarter last year to 5 181.

Compared with the same quarter in 2024, murders dropped by 1 355 cases, representing a 20.7% reduction.

“Most strikingly, murder has decreased nationally by 9.5%,” Cachalia said, describing murder figures as the country’s most reliable crime indicator.

The decline formed part of a broader reduction in serious violent crime across the country. Contact crimes, which include offences involving direct contact between perpetrators and victims, decreased by 4.6%, with 7 405 fewer cases reported compared with the same quarter last year.

Cachalia also highlighted notable declines in aggravated robbery categories. House robberies fell by 20.4%, business robberies by 18.3%, and robberies at non-residential premises by 22%.

Property-related crimes, including burglary and theft of and from motor vehicles, declined by 8.5%, while other serious crimes such as general theft and shoplifting dropped by 4.2%.

The minister attributed the improvements partly to collaboration between police and communities in combating crime.

Despite the decline, Cachalia warned that crime levels in the country remain unacceptably high, with South Africa still recording an average of 58 murders a day during the quarter.

“A decrease in crime is not the same as achieving safety,” he said. “Our goal is not just fewer crimes, but that communities are and feel safe everywhere.”

The statistics showed that Gauteng, the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal all recorded notable decreases in murders. However, the four provinces still accounted for more than 80% of all murders nationally.

Cachalia said government would continue implementing its police reform agenda, intensify efforts against organised crime and expand violence-prevention programmes aimed at tackling the social causes of violent crime.

“These statistics provide us with guidance,” he said. “Our task is to transform this decline in violent crime into a sustained, long-term reduction in violence and organised criminality across the country.”