Police Minister Senzo Mchunu revealed on Friday that four of South Africa’s nine provinces recorded increases in murder cases, with the highest increase noted in the Western Cape. North West, Eastern Cape and Limpopo also experienced an increase. 

The police ministry released the crime statistics for the fourth quarter of the 2023/24 financial year and the first quarter of the 2024/25 financial year, where Mchunu pointed out that the ministry had a busy start to the year, with the national and provincial elections in May, which he said resulted in the delay of the release for the last quarter of the previous financial year.

Mchunu highlighted that the ratio of murders committed per capita per province - that is, ratio per 100 000 of the population - included the Eastern Cape at 17.6%, the Western Cape at 15.3%, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) at 12.3% and Gauteng at 8.3%.

He said Limpopo recorded a ratio of 3.3%, making it the safest province as far as murder is concerned.

Mchunu pointed out that the top 30 police stations for murder were in the Western Cape with 11 of these stations, KZN with eight, Eastern Cape with six stations and Gauteng with five.

He highlighted that the leading stations were Nyanga, Inanda, Umlazi, Khayelitsha and Harare.

Between April and June of this year, a total of 6 198 murders took place, down 30 from the previous quarter.

Eight-hundred and ninety-seven murders took place during arguments or misunderstandings; 382 took place during robberies, 331 during vigilantism; 270 in gang-related circumstances; 50 occurred in hijacking and attempts and 44 took place in taxi-related incidents.

Mchunu noted 966 murders of women from April to June 2024, and 314 murders of children from April to June 2024.

The analysis of place of occurrence for murders in the first quarter crime statistics showed that the majority of the murders occurred in public places, except for the Northern Cape, where most of the murders occurred at the residential premises of either the perpetrator or victim.

He also noted a total of nine farm murders reported, where he said four victims were farmers, and three were farm dwellers.

These, he said, were crucial stakeholders and the South African Police Serve would ensure they worked with the farming community to address the challenge.

Ninety-one incidents of rape were reported.

“The data is a stark reminder of the urgent need for action. We are confronted with a crisis that threatens the safety of our communities and undermines the stability of our nation. Contact crimes are wreaking havoc and instilling fear. This is unacceptable, and we must confront this challenge with unwavering resolve and strategic precision,” said Mchunu.