Bloodshed in Alexandra as police record nine murders in January alone
In January alone, Alexandra has had nine cases of murder, 30 cases of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, 53 cases of common assault, and 40 cases of aggravated robbery among others.
The first month of 2026 has been marred by bloodshed in Alexandra, with the local police station recording nine cases of murder.
This was revealed during the station’s meeting at AlexSan Kopano Resource Centre on Wednesday.
Read more: Alexandra murder toll rises as taxi owner shot dead
Visible Policing Commander in Alex Colonel Jerry Phaswana shared the numbers, noting that nine people in a month are far too many. “Nine people are too much in the community of Alexandra. The purpose of this meeting is to ensure that next month when we meet, we will talk about zero murders.”
Phaswana said this can only be achieved through co-operation between the local police and residents in different sectors.
Just last year, the station featured in the top 30 list of stations grappling with concerning murder cases nationally. National crime statistics placed Alex in the 23rd position for murder, with 30 cases recorded between July and September 2025 — underscoring a troubling trend of bloodshed in the community.
Additionally, Phaswana noted that they have had six cases of attempted murder and 30 cases of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH).
He said the high number of GBH cases is linked to family-related fights and alcohol. “When people get drunk, they have these unnecessary fights where they end up getting injured. That is why we are saying let us do away with these illegal shebeens.”
Also read: Police yet to make arrests in Alex businessman’s murder case
The station has also recorded at least 53 cases of common assault. Similarly, Phaswana said the causes behind these are alcohol and family-related fights.
He added that they have recorded 40 cases of aggravated robbery, further sharing that most robberies happen with a firearm, with 14 such cases reported. “Which means we have a lot of unlicensed firearms in this community. It is only through you giving us information that we can make sure we remove these firearms from the community and the people that are using them.”
There were also 31 cases of malicious damage to property.
In addition, eight cases of burglary at residences and three cases of burglary at business premises were recorded.
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