By Simon Nare
Deputy Police Minister Cassel Mathale has acknowledged a decrease in broader crime statistics in the first quarter of the year but said more needed to be done, with the number of people being killed daily remaining alarming.
Briefing Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police on Wednesday, Mathale said the department was encouraged by the crime statistics for the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year, which covers April to June.
He attributed the decline to the work of police, with the support of communities.
Mathale and police management appeared before the committee to present the crime statistics, with MPs raising concerns about severe understaffing and a lack of resources within the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Acting National Commissioner Puleng Dimpane told the committee that the SAPS had been allocated additional funding, amounting to millions of rand, which would be channelled directly to 140 critical police stations across the country.
Mathale commended police officers for their work in fighting crime.
“We wish to commend our team for the work that they are doing. We know and understand that the successes of the South African Police Service are not a success of the South African Police Service on its own, but it’s a success of the work that the people of this country are doing to fight crime, including yourselves as members of Parliament through this portfolio committee,” Mathale said.
“We are all making a contribution, and this is the result of that contribution. But we also know and understand, Chair, that a lot needs to be done.
“Yes, there is a decrease around murder and other cases, but the numbers of people who are killed in the country is not something that we are proud of. Yes, we acknowledge the decrease, but we think more needs to be done.”
Mathale said it was the department’s wish that no one should be killed and that it would do everything possible to prevent violent crime, working with communities.
He said police were more effective when they worked closely with communities.
The statistics presented to the committee showed that gang-related violence remained a key concern, with 17 high-crime priority precincts in the Western Cape, also known as Operation Prosper stations, accounting for about two-thirds of all gang-related murders and attempted murders.
The same areas recorded reductions in rape and kidnapping, with rape cases declining by 43 and kidnapping cases by 12, despite increases recorded elsewhere in the province.
Mfuleni, Delft, Nyanga, Harare and Kraaifontein continued to record the highest volumes of serious crime and remained priority areas, according to the presentation.
“Overall, the results indicate positive progress in reducing serious violent crime within the Operation Prosper environment. However, the persistent concentration of violent and gang-related crime within these policing precincts underscores the importance of sustaining intelligence-led, high-density operational deployments and targeted crime-combatting initiatives,” the presentation said.
The 17 Operation Prosper stations continued to account for a significant proportion of serious violent crime in the Western Cape, recording nearly half of all murders and attempted murders in the province between April 1 and June 30, 2026.
Murders, attempted murders, rape and kidnapping all declined across the targeted stations compared with the corresponding period in 2025.
Murders and attempted murders combined decreased by 137 incidents, with murders declining by 123 and attempted murders by 14.
The majority of the stations recorded improvements.
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