Releasing the latest crime statistics for the third quarter of 2025/2026, acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said he is cautiously optimistic that levels of violent crimes are decreasing.
That being said, he conceded that levels of violent crime are still “unacceptably high”. The Minister was releasing the statistics for the period from October to December 2025.
Nationally, Cachalia said that the murder rate in South Africa, the country’s most reliable crime statistic, decreased by 8.7% this quarter.
After a decade of annual increases, the murder rate began to decline in the first quarter of the 2023/2024 year and has continued this quarter.
South Africa experienced 602 fewer deaths in this quarter, with the number of murders dropping from 5,794 in quarter two to 5,192 in quarter three.
“This means that over the last two years, the number of murders for the quarter three period has dropped by a significant figure: 17.6% or 1,359 fewer murders,” he said.
Cachalia added that all violent and property-related crimes, including rape, assault, robbery and theft, saw decreases this quarter as well.
Total contact crimes decreased by 6.7% compared to the same period in the previous year, with violent crimes down 8.3% or 15,673 fewer cases.
Level of violent crime remains unacceptably high
“Despite these welcome national trends, the levels of crime remain unacceptably high,” he said.
South Africa is still experiencing about 56 murders every day, one of the highest murder rates in the world. To put it in perspective, the daily average civilian deaths recorded in Ukraine in the fourth quarter of 2025 was 38.
Cachalia added that there are discrepancies in crime rates across South African provinces. While five of South Africa’s provinces saw decreases in murder rates, two – Limpopo and the Northern Cape – saw increases.
“When I looked at this round of stats, the Northern Cape looks like it’s a problem that needs attention,” he said.
He added that the rate of gang-related murders in the Western Cape remains persistently high.
“I am especially concerned about the rate of murder for police officials,” Cachalia said. 23 police officials lost their lives in the last quarter. 80% of them were off-duty at the time.
“There were also killings of police engaging in police missions,” he added. The department will be working on solutions to police murders.
Cachalia said that firearms have remained the biggest weapon driving murder and violent crime rates across the country.
“This is really one of the key challenges that we have to get a handle on in order to reduce levels of violent crime in our country,” he said.
