By Thapelo Molefe
South Africa recorded sharp declines in trio crimes and violent offences in the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, although police warned that organised crime, extortion and gang violence remain deeply entrenched in several provinces.
Presenting the latest crime statistics in Pretoria on Friday, acting police minister Firoz Cachalia said house robberies fell by 20.4%, business robberies by 18.3%, and robberies at non-residential premises by 22% compared with the same period last year.
Nationally, violent contact crimes declined by 4.6%, while murders dropped by 9.5% from 5,727 cases to 5,181.
Cachalia described the decline as “real and measurable progress” but cautioned that crime levels remained “unacceptably high”.
“While we must not sugar-coat the reality, neither must we ignore the gains that hard-working police officers and communities have made together,” he said.
Police attributed the reductions to intensified policing operations, intelligence-led interventions and the continued rollout of
You’ve reached your free article limit
Subscribe to enjoy unlimited access to trusted journalism. Cancel anytime.
Subscribe nowNeed help? molokom@insidepolitic.co.za
