The Western Cape is still home to one of the most violent policing districts in the country.
Image: Leon Knipe
Murder may have declined in the Western Cape during the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year, but the latest crime statistics show that several Cape Town communities remain firmly entrenched among South Africa’s most violent policing precincts.
The Western Cape recorded 1 071 murders between April and June 2026, down from 1 148 during the same period last year a decrease of 77 killings, or 6.7%.
Despite the reduction, the province continues to carry a heavy burden of violent crime, with Cape Town precincts featuring prominently among the country’s top 30 murder stations.
The latest figures show the following Cape Town murder hotspots for the quarter:
Mfuleni – 73 murders
Nyanga – 56 murders
Delft – 53 murders
Philippi East – 53 murders
Harare – 49 murders
Khayelitsha – 44 murders
Kraaifontein – 43 murders
Gugulethu – 37 murders
Makhaza – 36 murders
Lingelethu-West – 31 murders
Mitchells Plain – 30 murders
Mfuleni recorded the highest number of murders of any police precinct nationally during the three-month period, while Nyanga, Philippi East and Delft were also among the country’s worst affected areas.
The concentration of killings in a relatively small group of Cape Town precincts again highlights the uneven nature of the province’s crime picture: while murders declined overall, communities on the Cape Flats continue to shoulder much of the violence.
The City of Cape Town said the quarterly statistics nevertheless showed encouraging reductions in areas where dedicated Law Enforcement Advancement Plan officers are deployed.
According to the City, murder declined across all six precincts with dedicated LEAP deployments. The biggest year-on-year reductions were recorded in Gugulethu, where murders fell by 34%, Mitchells Plain with a 33% decline and Delft with a 24% decrease.
The City said half of the stations in the national top 30 for murder which registered decreases were Cape Town LEAP deployment areas.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the reductions were encouraging but stressed that violent crime levels remained far too high.
The City also pointed to firearm and drug confiscations as another indication of intensified enforcement in hotspot areas. Hill-Lewis said municipal enforcement officers confiscate around 400 illegal firearms annually while supporting SAPS operations.
Nationally, SAPS recorded declines across several major crime categories between April and June.
Murder decreased by 5.9%, representing 343 fewer killings compared with the corresponding quarter last year.
Contact crime was down by 2.3%, or 3 334 cases, while property-related crime declined by 4.6%, representing 3 371 fewer cases.
Other serious crimes decreased by 0.6%.
Robbery with aggravating circumstances recorded one of the sharper decreases, falling by 14.7%. There were 26 839 cases during the quarter compared with 31 475 between April and June 2025 - 4 636 fewer incidents.
Residential robberies declined by 17.6%, robberies at non-residential premises by 11.8%, and carjackings by 18.2%.
Trio crimes collectively dropped by 16.4%, amounting to 2 156 fewer cases.
Sexual offences showed a far smaller improvement, decreasing by just 0.8%, or 98 cases. Rape declined by 0.3% and attempted sexual offences by 1.8%.
The figures point to an overall improvement nationally and provincially, but the clustering of murder in Cape Town’s most vulnerable communities remains a concern.
The City has argued that the statistics strengthen its case for greater policing capacity at local level, particularly amidst its ongoing push for Metro Police officers to receive investigative powers for gang, gun and drug-related offences.
That debate has intensified as communities continue to experience shootings and gang-related murders despite additional policing deployments.
The scale of that challenge was again illustrated only days before the crime statistics were released when SAPS opened murder investigations following two separate triple killings in Cape Town.
Three people were killed in a shooting in Silvertown, Athlone, on August 23, while another three people were shot dead in Happy Valley, Mfuleni, in the early hours of the following morning. Police said both incidents were believed to be gang-related.
Ian Cameron said the latest crime statistics showed some encouraging movement, including declines in murder, carjackings and robberies, but warned that South Africa’s violent crime levels remained severe.
He said thousands of people were still being murdered and raped every quarter, with firearms continuing to feature prominently in killings. Cameron also highlighted the dangers faced by police officers themselves, pointing to the recent murders of officers in Reiger Park and Knysna.
He said police could not be expected to effectively fight crime without basic resources, noting that thousands of SAPS vehicles were unavailable for duty and many others had travelled more than 300 000km.
Cameron said the Western Cape’s 6.7% decline in murder, together with reductions across all six LEAP deployment areas, supported the case for intelligence-led hotspot policing and greater use of capable municipal resources.
However, he questioned SAPS’s figure of 217 gang-related murders in the Western Cape, saying his monitoring suggested the number could be significantly higher.
He said SAPS should clarify how gang-related murders were classified before firm conclusions were drawn, adding that progress should be acknowledged but not confused with victory.
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