JOHANNESBURG, May 22 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's murder cases dropped by 9.5 percent in the fourth quarter of the 2025/2026 financial year, with 546 fewer people killed, an official said on Friday.
Presenting the statistics for the period from Jan. 1 to March 31, Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said 5,181 murders were recorded during the quarter, compared with 5,727 in the same period of the previous financial year.
Compared with the same quarter in 2024, murders fell by 1,355 cases, representing a 20.7 percent decrease, according to the statistics.
At a national level, violent crimes declined by 4.6 percent during the quarter, with 7,405 fewer cases reported, Cachalia said.
"This trend started in 2024, with violent contact crimes having dropped by 10.2 percent since then, resulting in 17,440 fewer cases reported compared to this latest quarter," he said.
Despite the decline, Cachalia warned that crime levels remained "unacceptably high," noting that South Africa still recorded an average of 58 murders a day during the quarter.
The statistics showed that Gauteng, the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal all recorded notable decreases in murders. However, the four provinces still accounted for more than 80 percent of all murders in the country.
During the period, South Africa recorded 8.2 murders per 100,000 people nationally. The Eastern Cape had the highest murder risk at 14.3 murders per 100,000 people, followed by the Western Cape at 12.8 and KwaZulu-Natal at 8.8, Cachalia said.
"A decrease in crime is not the same as achieving safety. Our goal is not just fewer crimes, but that communities are and feel safe everywhere," he added. ■
