Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia and Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane released South Africa’s first quarter 2026/27 crime statistics in Pretoria on Friday 28 August 2026, showing a 5.9% drop in murder to 5,427 killings between April and June 2026. Image: Dino Lloyd
South Africa recorded 5,427 murders between April and June 2026, a 5.9% drop from the same period last year. The SA crime statistics 2026 first quarter figures came out on Friday 28 August 2026 in Pretoria. Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia and Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane presented the figures. Furthermore, 343 fewer people died compared to the same period in 2025/26. As a result, murder has now declined for several consecutive quarters in South Africa.
However, the figures carry serious warnings. Attempted murder increased by nearly 9%. Assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and common assault also rose. Furthermore, political killings spiked ahead of the 4 November 2026 local government elections. Two councillors were shot dead in Knysna within less than 24 hours of each other. As a result, Cachalia warned that the declining murder rate did not justify complacency. “Every murder remains one too many. Every victim deserves justice,” Cachalia said.
Dimpane was equally direct. “5,427 murders in 90 days remain 5,427 too many. Every death represents a life lost and a family devastated,” she said. She acknowledged the police are making progress but said the pace is not yet where it must be. Furthermore, Cachalia noted the 5.9% decline is lower than the 9.5% reduction recorded in the preceding quarter. “This means that while we are making inroads, the pace of progress is not yet where it must be,” Cachalia said. As a result, the statistics paint a picture of genuine but uneven progress.
Other serious crime categories showed significant declines. Robbery with aggravating circumstances dropped by 14.7%. Carjackings fell by 18.2%. Residential robberies dropped by nearly 18%. TRIO crimes, covering carjackings, house robberies and business robberies, declined by more than 16%. Furthermore, no bank robberies were recorded in the entire quarter. Cash-in-transit heists also declined. As a result, robbery-related crime showed the strongest improvement of any category in the first quarter.
Overall contact crimes declined by 2.3% from 145,446 cases in April to June 2025 to 142,112 over the same period in 2026. That is 3,334 fewer contact crime cases year on year. Furthermore, sexual offences decreased marginally. South Africa recorded 9,201 reported rapes in the quarter, down 0.3% from the same period last year. That still amounts to just over 100 rapes every single day. As a result, Amnesty International raised concerns about the true scale of violence against women and children and called for better crime data.
The statistics on women and children are deeply concerning. Of the 5,427 murders in the quarter, 723 involved verified women and child victims. Women and children accounted for 1,377 of the 6,958 attempted murder victims. Furthermore, they made up 8,814 of the 9,201 rape victims recorded in the quarter. As a result, the statistics confirm that women and children bear a far greater share of South Africa’s violent crime burden even as the overall figures improve.
The SA crime statistics 2026 figures show a decline in murder building across several consecutive quarters. In the fourth quarter of 2025/26, murders declined by 9.5% from 5,727 to 5,181. The third quarter saw an 11.5% drop. The second quarter recorded a 6.9% fall. Furthermore, the SAPS 2024/25 annual report showed murders decreased by more than 10% to 24,692, down from 27,621 in 2023/24. As a result, South Africa is in the middle of a sustained multi-year decline in murder that represents a real shift in the country’s violent crime picture.
Violent crime remains heavily concentrated in specific provinces, cities and police precincts rather than spread evenly across the country. The Western Cape, specifically the Cape Flats, accounts for a large share of gang-related murders. KwaZulu-Natal continues to record high levels of political violence. Furthermore, Cachalia said intelligence-led policing and targeted operations in crime hotspots are driving the improvements. As a result, the areas where crime is most concentrated are also where the most intensive policing resources are focused.
Read our earlier coverage: Gauteng Crime Drop Q1 2026: Serious Crime Falls 5.2% but Kidnappings Continue to Rise.
Editors Note All crime statistics are from the SAPS first quarter 2026/27 release by Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia and Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane on 28 August 2026 in Pretoria.