Crime stats: Gang murders account for one in four in the Western Cape

MORE than one in every four murders recorded in the Western Cape during the latest crime-reporting period was linked to gang initiation or gang-related violence.

According to South African Police Service (SAPS) crime statistics for July to September 2025, 293 murders — 25.3 percent of the 1 156 killings recorded during the quarter — were linked to gang initiation or gang-related violence, making it the single largest identified cause of murder during the period.

Killings linked to arguments, misunderstandings or fights accounted for 231 murders (20.0 percent), while retaliation or revenge attacks were responsible for 153 murders (13.2 percent). Extortion-related murders, though lower in number, accounted for 25 killings, or 2.2  percent, during the same period.

Of the 293 gang-related murders recorded across the province, 286 occurred in the metro, underscoring the challenges faced by law enforcement and communities.

The pattern extends beyond fatal incidents. Police data shows that 302 attempted murders — 26.4 percent of all attempted murder cases recorded during the quarter — were linked to gang initiation or gang-related violence, reinforcing the role of gangs in driving serious violent crime.

In total, the Western Cape recorded 1 160 murders between July and September 2025, an increase of 97 cases, or 9.1 percent, compared with the same period the previous year. Firearms remained the most frequently used weapons, accounting for 60.6 percent, of all murder cases, while most killings occurred in public places such as streets, open fields and parking areas.

Speaking at a media briefing, Western Cape Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile said during this period they have arrested 114 gang leaders and 116 gang members, along with 65 arrests linked to extortion and 125 arrests for kidnapping-related crimes.

Patekile said police had also seized 1 291 illegal firearms, 32 476 rounds of ammunition and 12 924 dangerous weapons, but warned that the circulation of illegal guns continued to fuel violence.

He said: “The release from prison of parolees or completion of sentences, or in some cases where they are not convicted because they are instrumental within crime groupings, violence erupts.”

Reacting to the figures, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Community Safety Anroux Marais said the statistics reflected the scale of the challenge facing the province.

“The crime stats for the first and second quarter of the financial year do not paint an encouraging picture about the crime situation in our province. While there are areas of progress that we must acknowledge, it is clear that we need to work much harder and much smarter to make the Western Cape safer. Violent crime, particularly murder remains at unacceptably high levels in our province. However, when we look deeper into the data, an important pattern emerges. In both the first and second quarters, murders decreased in our LEAP deployment areas while increasing sharply in the rest of the province.”

Marais also condemned attacks on on-duty law enforcement officials combating gangsterism and illegal firearms.

“We need a collective stance against gangsterism and violent crime. Police and government cannot win this fight alone. We need active support of citizens and communities to work with SAPS, LEAP, CPFs and neighbourhood watches. We need people to report crime and where the guns are and to stand with law enforcement. Not against them.”