Murders in South Africa: The most dangerous areas and why people are killed

South Africa’s latest crime statistics revealed that 5,427 people were murdered between April 2026 and June 2026.

Ian Cameron, the National Assembly Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, provided details about these murders.

He said that the statistics showed that almost 60 people a day, or nearly 2.5 people every hour, are murdered in South Africa.

Gauteng had the highest number of murders, followed by KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape, and the Eastern Cape.

He added that the South African Police Service provided an analysis from a sample of 5,170 murders where information was available.

Within that sample, 2,513 murders in South Africa involved firearms, and 2,871 occurred in public places.

There were 714 murders with knives, 455 with other sharp instruments, and 213 with blunt instruments.

“28 people were murdered with firearms every day. Illegal firearms and the criminal networks supplying them must remain a policing priority,” Cameron said.

Of the 5,170 murders analysed, 2,871 occurred in public places, 1,614 were at residences, and 213 happened at liquor outlets.

“More than half of murders happened in public spaces. This is why intelligence-led hotspot policing matters,” he said.

Most murders happened because of arguments and fights, followed by retaliation and revenge, vigilantism, robbery, gang crimes, taxi violence, and hijackings.

“Not every murder has the same cause, so not every murder can be prevented using the same policing strategy,” Cameron said.

One thing which stood out was that 7,439 serious contact crimes were alcohol-related, including 250 murders.

“Alcohol-related crime and violence is a serious policing and social problem across South Africa,” he said.

Another concerning issue is gang-related crime in the Western Cape. The Police classified 251 murders nationally as gang-related, with 217 in the Western Cape.

However, it may be worse. “217 equals fewer than 17 gang murders a week. Our monitoring of suspected gang murders has been closer to 30 per week,” said Cameron.

“The SA Police Service must explain exactly how it classifies gang-related murders, including those recorded as retaliation or revenge,” he said.

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What caused the murder

Reason	Number of murders
Arguments and fights	880
Retaliation and revenge	307
Vigilantism	305
Robbery	279
Gang-related	251
Taxi-related	53
Hijacking-related	49

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Provinces with the most murders

Province	Murders
Gauteng	1276
KwaZulu-Natal	1179
Western Cape	1071
Eastern Cape	1047
Mpumalanga	262
North West	223
Limpopo	161
Free State	156
Northern Cape	52

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The most dangerous areas in South Africa

Station	District	Province	Murders
Mfuleni	City of Cape Town District	Western Cape	73
Inanda	eThekwini District	KwaZulu-Natal	63
Nyanga	City of Cape Town District	Western Cape	56
Philippi East	City of Cape Town District	Western Cape	53
Delft	City of Cape Town District	Western Cape	53
Harare	City of Cape Town District	Western Cape	49
Umlazi	eThekwini District	KwaZulu-Natal	49
New Brighton	Nelson Mandela District	Eastern Cape	47
Kwazakele	Nelson Mandela District	Eastern Cape	46
Khayelitsha	City of Cape Town District	Western Cape	44
Kraaifontein	City of Cape Town District	Western Cape	43
Ivory Park	Ekurhuleni District	Gauteng	43
Kwadwesi	Nelson Mandela District	Eastern Cape	42
Motherwell	Nelson Mandela District	Eastern Cape	41
Walmer	Nelson Mandela District	Eastern Cape	40
Gugulethu	City of Cape Town District	Western Cape	37
Makhaza	City of Cape Town District	Western Cape	35
JHB Central	Johannesburg District	Gauteng	35
Ntuzuma	eThekwini District	KwaZulu-Natal	34
Mpumalanga KZN	eThekwini District	KwaZulu-Natal	34
Orange Farms	Sedibeng District	Gauteng	34
Cato Manor	eThekwini District	KwaZulu-Natal	33
Kwanobuhle	Nelson Mandela District	Eastern Cape	33
Cleveland	Johannesburg District	Gauteng	31
Lingelethu-West	City of Cape Town District	Western Cape	31
Plessislaer	Umgungundlovu District	KwaZulu-Natal	30
Mitchells Plain	City of Cape Town District	Western Cape	30
Jeppe	Johannesburg District	Gauteng	29
Mthatha	OR Tambo District	Eastern Cape	29
Kwamashu E	eThekwini District	KwaZulu-Natal	28

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