JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's murder rate declined by 8.7 percent in the third quarter of the 2025/2026 financial year compared with the same period one year earlier, the country's Acting Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia said on Friday while releasing the latest crime statistics.
The data, covering the period from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025, show that a total of 6,381 murder cases were recorded, 602 fewer nationwide compared with the corresponding quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year, Cachalia said at a media briefing in Pretoria, the country's administrative capital.
Overall violent crime, which includes murder, rape, robbery and assault, also decreased by 6.7 percent in the quarter under review, with 12,682 fewer cases reported to the South African Police Service year on year, he added.
"While we welcome the declines in most categories of violent and property crime, overall levels remain unacceptably high," Cachalia stressed.
According to the minister, five provinces, namely KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Free State and North West, recorded double-digit declines in murder cases. Smaller decreases were registered in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape, while slight increases were reported in Limpopo and the Northern Cape.
Cachalia cautioned that murders linked to gang violence remain "worrisomely high" in parts of the Eastern Cape and Western Cape, highlighting the continued threat posed by organized criminal groups.
The minister said that a meeting of provincial heads of community safety and several provincial premiers will be convened on March 6 to better coordinate national, provincial and local government operations in high-crime precincts.
In addition, the government plans to establish a national community patroller program aimed at strengthening crime prevention at the grassroots level, he said.
"We still have a long journey to travel. But I promise that we will not give up. By adopting a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, together we can make South Africa a safer place. This is a priority and is achievable," Cachalia said.
Last week, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced during his State of the Nation Address that soldiers would be deployed in the Western Cape and Gauteng to tackle gang violence and illegal mining. ■
