By Thapelo Molefe
South Africa recorded a significant drop in murders in the second quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, with the South African Police Service (SAPS) reporting 751 fewer killings between July and September.
The national murder tally fell from 6,545 to 5,794, an 11.5% decrease, reflecting one of the sharpest quarterly reductions in recent years.
The statistics were released on Friday.
Despite the improvement, Police Minister Professor Firoz Kachalia cautioned against complacency, saying: “One murder is, of course, too many… but murder has started to decrease significantly, and that gives me some hope.”
He said that while violent crime trends are moving in the right direction, overall levels remain “unacceptably high”.
Data presented by Major General Thulare Sekhukhune, head of the SAPS Crime Registrar on Friday during the release of the statistics, shows that the Western Cape and Northern Cape were the only provinces to record increases, with
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