By Thapelo Molefe
Police have warned of a persistent link between alcohol consumption and violent crime after figures presented with the latest crime statistics showed thousands of murders, attempted murders and serious assaults associated with alcohol during the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year.
Crime Registrar Major General Thulare Sekhukhune said the South African Police Service (SAPS) recorded 250 murders, 620 attempted murders and 5,136 assault GBH cases in which alcohol was identified as a factor between April and June 2026.
The figures were released on Friday as police reported a mixed picture of crime, with murder and several serious robbery categories declining nationally while attempted murder and assault cases increased.
The statistics also showed high levels of violent crime occurring at establishments where alcohol was sold.
According to figures presented by police, 213 murders, 429 attempted murders, 69 rapes and 3,593 assault GBH cases occurred at liquor outlets and other places where alcohol is sold.
Sekhukhune said the figures highlighted the role alcohol plays in violent incidents.
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said violent crime was particularly concentrated at night and over weekends.
“These stats show unmistakably a pattern that we have all been familiar with for a long period of time,” Cachalia said.
“Violent crimes occur mainly over the weekends at night, and they’re concentrated around liquor outlets, many of them unlicensed and operating without any regard for regulation.”
Cachalia said police could close down unlicensed establishments, but government needed to look more broadly at liquor regulation and the availability of alcohol in communities.
He said the issue was not about banning alcohol but ensuring responsible consumption and stronger regulation.
“This is not about abstinence, those are decisions that individuals can take,” Cachalia said.
“It’s about, at the very least, about responsible consumption and about the liquor industry also fully exercising its responsibilities backed up by effective regulation and law enforcement.”
The minister said provincial governments and local authorities had a particularly important role to play in addressing the problem.
“This kind of violent crime cannot be solved simply through police action, increasing the number of arrests, and so forth,” he said.
The national crime figures showed that murder declined by 343 cases during the quarter, while sexual offences decreased by 98.
However, attempted murder increased by 557 cases, assault GBH by 930 and common assault by 830.
Robbery with aggravating circumstances declined by 4,636 cases, from 31,475 to 26,839.
Carjacking decreased by 846 cases, robbery at residential premises by 944 and robbery at non-residential premises by 366.
Police also reported significant enforcement activity during the quarter, including 4,594 arrests for drug dealing, 29,548 for drug possession and 9,813 motorists arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Cachalia said the declines in some crime categories should not obscure the continued levels of violence experienced by communities.
“While these statistics demonstrate reductions in certain categories, they do not change the reality for too many of our people that we live in a high crime society accompanied by high levels of violence,” he said.
He said the government had identified 140 priority police stations based on crime patterns and would direct additional operational support and resources to these areas.
The minister said tackling violent crime would require cooperation beyond the police, including stronger liquor regulation, municipal enforcement and greater responsibility from the alcohol industry.
He said the relationship between alcohol and violence needed to become part of a broader national conversation involving government, communities and the liquor industry.
INSIDE POLITICS
