The number of murders and rapes in Gauteng decreased compared with the same three-month period last year.
Picture: Saps
The South African Police Service (Saps) has released a detailed breakdown of crime levels in Gauteng.
The province has 19 police stations ranked in the top 50 for the worst levels of crime nationally, and 40 in the top 100.
Johannesburg accounts for 19 of those 40 stations, with Tshwane and Ekurhuleni responsible for eight and seven, respectively.
Acting provincial commissioner Major General Fred Kekana on Friday confirmed the province had recorded 1 276 murders and 1 666 rapes during the first quarter of the 2026-27 financial year.
Overall, contact crimes fell by 3%, yet authorities recorded 37 161 crimes against civilians between April and June this year.
Assaults and attempted murder up
While the number of murders had decreased from the same period last year, Kekana noted that associated crimes had increased.
Attempted murder increased by 3%, common assault increased by 2.1%, and grievous assaults had increased by 2.1%, with the three crime categories amassing a combined 20 347 cases.
“Our biggest concern is that these sub-categories are feeders to incidents of murder.
“We therefore renew our call to the citizens of Gauteng to use amicable solutions to resolve conflicts, as opposed to resorting to violence,” stated Kekana.
He explained that the dense layouts of the worst affected areas were hampering policing efforts.
“Some of the challenges facing policing include the unfavourable environmental design of some areas, particularly townships, informal settlements and hostels.
“These continue to make it difficult for the police to access these areas and do affect police response time to complaints and emergency situations,” said Kekana.
Other crimes with recorded increases were commercial crimes, non-residential burglaries and thefts out of or from motor vehicles, up 4.5%, 5.5% and 4.2%, respectively.
Most crimes decreased
Sexual offences of all kinds were down 9.1%, with common robbery seeing a 4% decrease and aggravated robbery decreasing by 10.6%.
Carjacking was down 14.6%, residential robberies were down 15.9%, and non-residential robberies were down 6.9%.
However, those three crime categories still accounted for 4 679 cases reported in three months, including 24 carjackings per day.
Kekana stated that Operation Shanela II continued to make a high number of arrests, with 38 564 suspects apprehended over the three-month period.
This included 14 256 illegal immigrants, 148 murder suspects, 279 robbery suspects, and 6 720 drug-related arrests.
In terms of recoveries, authorities confiscated 376kg of stolen municipal cables, 434kg of various types of drugs, 589 explosive devices and recovered 144 hijacked or stolen vehicles.
“I want to take this opportunity to appreciate all our stakeholders, our private and social partners, community-based structures, as well as the community at large, for their continued willingness to work together with the police in the fight against crime,” concluded Kekana.
Fight against gangsterism
Provincial police presented a presentation on Operation Proper’s efforts between April and June, notably the fight against gang activity.
In Johannesburg, the presentation noted that Sophiatown, Eldorado Park, Langlaagte, Booysens and Moffat View had drawn special attention due to a turf war between two particular gangs.
“The ongoing turf war between the Varador Cortet gang and the Fast Guns gang continues to affect the areas mentioned.
“The majority of incidents occur at street corners used by gang members for the sale of drugs. However, the absence of witness testimony makes it difficult to identify, link and arrest suspects,” the presentation stated.
To combat gang-related crime, police conducted 621 community awareness campaigns, 122 school safety campaigns, and 347 school searches.
Between April and June, police made 96 gang-related arrests in Gauteng, including 47 in the Sophiatown precinct, 18 in Eldorado Park and 14 in Reiger Park.
