Western Cape crime stats briefing: Provincial police and safety officials outline latest crime trends during a media briefing in Cape Town.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane/ Independent Media
The Western Cape recorded 1,157 murders between October and December 2025, 41 fewer than the same period last year, but provincial leaders said that the marginal decrease does little to soften the reality that the province remains at the centre of South Africa’s violent crime crisis.
Presenting the third quarter crime statistics for the 2025/2026 financial year, Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile said the province saw an overall decrease across the 17 community-reported crime categories and a reduction in contact crimes, but warned that serious violence remains deeply entrenched.
"Murder reduced by 41 cases to 1,157 this quarter. That translates to 15.2 murders per 100,000 people, down from 16 last year," Patekile said. "But 1,157 murders in a single quarter is still far too high."
The Western Cape continues to account for more than 15% of national crime, despite its smaller population share, and some of its police stations dominate the country’s top 13 murder hotspots. Mfuleni is ranked number one nationally, alongside Delft, Nyanga, Mitchells Plain and Gugulethu.
Anroux Marais, MEC for Police Oversight and Community Safety, said the numbers confirm what residents already know.
"The province continues to face deeply entrenched challenges in categories like murder, attempted murder and rape, underscoring persistent levels of firearm-related violence and targeted attacks in communities," Marais said.
"Frankly, the Western Cape remains the epicentre of gang-related violence in South Africa."
According to the statistics, one in four murders and attempted murders in the province are gang-related, with the Cape Flats, Delft and Mfuleni at the centre of the bloodshed. Firearms remain the weapon of choice.
"Firearms continue to dominate as the chosen dangerous weapon in murder cases," Marais said.
While trio crimes such as carjackings, house robberies and business robberies declined, police recorded increases in attempted murder and sexual offences. Attempted murder rose across the three months under review, while rape cases increased by 17 counts, sexual assault by 34 and attempted sexual offences by 8.
Patekile attributed much of the violence to the availability of guns and drugs.
"The prevalence of serious violent crime is driven by the availability of firearms, ammunition and drugs," he said.
During the quarter, police confiscated 607 illegal firearms and more than 14 000 rounds of mixed ammunition, continuing what provincial leaders describe as aggressive, targeted operations.
"Western Cape SAPS continues to confiscate more firearms than other provinces.
"That tells us two important things, first, that our members are actively removing guns from the wrong hands, and second, that citizens are increasingly providing information about illegal firearms and violence," Marais said.
However, about 7,000 firearms remain unaccounted for and are not linked to current licensed holders.
"We suspect some of those are being used in the commission of crime."
Marais said improvements in crime intelligence and investigative capacity are critical if the province is to shift the trajectory of violent crime.
"We need two urgent improvements to prevent these horrific killings. First, Crime Intelligence must be properly capacitated and stabilised in the Western Cape so that it drives preventative action. Second, intelligence must translate into operational action on the ground. We cannot keep responding after the fact, we must act before tragedy strikes."
With more than a thousand lives lost in just three months, officials agree that while the drop of 41 murders signals incremental progress, the scale of violence demands urgent, systemic intervention.
lilita.gcwabe@inl.co.za