Violent crime in the Western Cape escalated sharply during the second quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, with murders and attempted murders surging despite targeted policing interventions showing success in specific areas.

This emerged during the release of the province’s first- and second-quarter crime statistics, covering the periods from April to June and July to September 2025.

During the six months in question, 2,308 people were murdered in the Western Cape.

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Western Cape Police Commissioner Lt-Gen Thembisile Patekile and MEC for Community Safety and Police Oversight Anroux Marais, together with the NPA and Provincial CPF leaders, addressed the media in Cape Town yesterday.

Second-quarter spike erodes early gains

Patekile confirmed that gains recorded during the first quarter were effectively erased by a spike in violent crime in the second quarter, particularly during August, which he described as the worst-performing month.

“When the Minister of Police and the National Commissioner released the first and second quarter crime statistics, it became apparent that gains made in the first quarter were eroded by a spike in violent crime in the second quarter,” Patekile said.

Crime analysis shows violence remains heavily concentrated in the City of Cape Town, which now accounts for the majority of the province’s most violent police precincts.

Nine Western Cape police stations currently rank among the top 30 most violent stations nationally, with eight of them located within the City of Cape Town.

Murders climb, but LEAP areas show decline

Marais said the statistics do not paint an encouraging picture, noting that murders rose by 0.9% in the first quarter, representing 10 additional deaths, before worsening dramatically in the second quarter, with a 9.1% increase and 97 more people killed compared to the same period last year.

“Violent crime, particularly murder, remains at unacceptably high levels in our province,” Marais said.

However, Marais says a consistent and critical pattern emerged: murders declined in areas where Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers are deployed, while increasing sharply elsewhere.

In the first quarter, murders in LEAP areas dropped by 7.1%, with notable reductions in Khayelitsha, Nyanga and Philippi East. In the second quarter, murders in these areas declined by a further 9.4%, with additional improvements recorded in Delft.

By contrast, areas outside LEAP deployment saw murder increases of 4.5% in the first quarter and a staggering 17.9% in the second.

“The message is clear,” Marais said. “Where there are more boots on the ground, where LEAP officers are deployed strategically and where there is close cooperation between LEAP, SAPS and municipal law enforcement, we see real and measurable impact.”

Reductions were also recorded in reaction unit areas such as Manenberg, Steenberg and Elsies River.

Illegal firearms at the centre of violence

Both speakers identified the proliferation of illegal firearms and ammunition as the primary driver of violent crime in the province.

Firearms remain the most commonly used weapon in murders. In the first quarter alone, 682 firearm-related murders were recorded in the Western Cape.

Police data shows increased success in firearm seizures. In quarter one, 821 cases of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition were detected, a 13.4% increase. This rose to 1,040 detections in quarter two, representing a 28% increase and significantly outperforming national averages.

Precincts such as Mitchells Plain, Delft, Philippi and Bishop Lavis featured prominently in these seizures.

During the first half of the financial year, SAPS recovered:

• 1,291 firearms
• Over 34,000 rounds of ammunition
• 12,924 dangerous weapons
• 299,110 litres of illegal liquor
• Drugs valued at over R67 million

Police also arrested 114 gang leaders, 116 gang members, 65 suspects linked to extortion, and 125 suspects for kidnapping.

“These seizures do make a dent,” Patekile said, “but it is cold comfort to families who have lost loved ones.”

Firearm sources under scrutiny

Patekile outlined multiple sources contributing to the illegal gun economy, including:

• Firearms lost or stolen from private owners
• Unlicensed firearms inherited after the death of licensed owners
• Cross-border trafficking, particularly from Namibia and possibly Angola
• Firearms stolen from police officers
• Ammunition obtained using licences belonging to deceased individuals

Patekile says more than 35,000 licensed firearm owners in the Western Cape are deceased, raising concerns that their licences may still be used to purchase ammunition.

Police are now scrutinising gun shops, shooting ranges and ammunition purchases, while also exploring new technologies for firearm detection along key transport routes and border areas, including maritime routes.

Community attacks on police condemned

Marais strongly condemned recent incidents where communities turned on police officers during operations to arrest armed suspects, citing an incident in Manenberg where officers were attacked while attempting to seize an illegal firearm.

“This is unacceptable,” she said. “On the one hand, we demand that police do more. On the other hand, when officers put their lives on the line to remove illegal guns, they are attacked for doing their jobs.”

She called for a “social pact” against gangsterism, urging communities to work with SAPS, LEAP, Community Policing Forums and neighbourhood watches.

“Police and government cannot win this fight alone.”

Gangs filling service gaps

Patekile warned that gangs are increasingly establishing “alternative governance” in vulnerable communities by providing social assistance where the state is absent, a dynamic that may fuel community resistance to police operations.

This has prompted a multi-departmental approach involving social services, education, school safety programmes and community structures to undermine gang influence and prevent youth recruitment.

Police have also noted a shift in tactics, with gangs increasingly using women, elderly people and persons with disabilities to conceal and transport firearms.

While acknowledging deep concern about the second-quarter performance, Patekile says recent festive-season deployments and additional national resources were beginning to show results.

“We are not pleased, but we remain confident that we will turn the corner through sustained, coordinated operations with all law enforcement partners and communities.”