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JOHANNESBURG - The murder rate in the country has decreased by 9.5% for the fourth quarter of the 2025/2026 financial year.
In the same quarter of last year, 5,727 people were murdered; that number has come down to 5181.
That means 546 fewer lives were lost.
This is according to Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia, who presented the crime statistics for the period January 1 to March 31, 2026.
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The decline formed part of a broader reduction in serious violent crime.
Contact crimes have decreased by 4,6% with 7,405 fewer cases reported compared to the same quarter last year.
According to Cachalia, this trend started in 2024, with violent crime having dropped by 10,2%.
This, he said, resulted in 17,440 fewer cases reported compared to this latest quarter.
Cachalia also recorded a decrease of 20,4% in house robberies, 18,3% in business robberies, and 22% reduction in the robberies of non-residential premises compared to the same period last year.
There was also a 2% decrease in kidnappings.
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The Minister attributed the improvements in part to the efforts of police officers and communities working together to combat crime.
Despite the gains, Cachalia reiterated that crime levels remain unacceptably high.
“A decrease in crime is not the same as achieving safety. The levels of crime are still unacceptably high, with 58 murders per day on average during this quarter. Our goal is not just fewer crimes, but that communities are and feel safe everywhere," he said.