Acting police minister Firoz Cachalia released the crime statistics for the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year, showing a decline in murder and several other serious contact crimes. He said the country had recorded notable decreases in murder, carjacking, residential robbery, business robbery and cash-in-transit robbery.

Cachalia attributed the progress to intelligence-led policing, targeted operations and improved cooperation between law enforcement agencies. But also identified alcohol as a major driver of violence, saying murders and serious assaults often occur over weekends, at night and around liquor outlets. He said a substantial proportion of violent crimes involved people who had been drinking and often knew their victims.

North-West University researcher and lecturer in police practice, Cobus Steenkamp, said the figures should not be viewed as an indication that South Africa’s crime problem has been resolved. “It’s still not an optimal picture of the crime situation in the country; while the decline in murders was encouraging, the increase in attempted murders remained concerning.

“One murder is one murder too many, and we should not lose sight of that when looking at the statistics. What makes me less excited about the dropping of the murder rate is the increase in the attempted murder rate.”

“If it wasn’t for the survival of the victim, the murder rate would have been much higher. The increase in attempted murders gives us an indication that the decline in murders does not necessarily mean violent crime is declining at the same rate.”

Cachalia said the continued decline in the murder rate was encouraging. However, he cautioned against becoming complacent, stressing the reduction does not erase the reality that too many South Africans continue to lose their lives to violent crime. “Every murder remains one too many, and the latest figures show while progress is possible, significant work remains to make communities safer.”

Private investigator and security expert Mike Bolhuis welcomed the decline in several crime categories, while stressing the importance of crime reporting. “My concern still is the crimes against children, women and the elderly. And many of those crimes are never reported.

“Open up a police case, even if it’s the slightest, so that the country can see exactly the petty crimes, the medium crimes, the serious violent crimes, the sexual crimes, and the political crimes and corruption. The statistics are of extreme importance, but the underreporting of crime remains a huge problem for us.”

OFM News/Zenande Mpame dg

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