KZN crime stats reveal 1,179 murders in 3 months, surge in domestic violence - IOL

Acting Provincial Commissioner Major General Phumelele Makoba was concerned about rape and murder crime statistics for KwaZulu-Natal between April and June 2026.

The latest crime statistics from KwaZulu-Natal recorded decreases in murder, rape, robbery and sexual offences between April and June 2026.

The South African Police Service released the statistics for the 1st Quarter of the 2026/2027 financial year on Friday.

The Acting Provincial Commissioner of KwaZulu-Natal, Major General Phumelele Makoba, said murder cases recorded a decrease of 20 murders compared to the same period last year, which is a reduction of 1.7%.

However, she was concerned that the number of people murdered in the province is still too high.

Between April and June 2026, 1,179 people were killed in KZN.

Makoba said that Inanda police station recorded the biggest decrease this quarter, with 15 fewer murders recorded, which translates to a murder decrease of 19.2%. She said Umlazi and Esikhaleni police stations also showed improvements, recording a decrease of 6 and 5 murder cases respectively.

“The decrease in murder cases and all other crime categories is an indication that police’s efforts in fighting crime are bearing fruit. We applaud our members for enduring long hours and sleepless nights to keep residents in the province safe,” Makoba said.

On the topic of murder, Makoba said the police cannot normalise this and be happy that the crime of murder has gone down. She said police can do so much, but without the active participation of community members in crime prevention endeavours, criminals will continue to terrorise communities.

Police analysts highlighted that 124 murders and 422 attempted murders happened because of arguments, misunderstanding, road rage and provocation.

“Our communities and public roads are turning into anger-charged societies where any argument or misunderstanding can turn violent and at worst, fatal. Some of these murders could have been prevented only if people were patient with each other and found amicable solutions to their misunderstandings,” she said.

Makoba said murders also happened as a result of retaliation and revenge. punishment, vigilantism or mob justice, robbery, gang-related incidents, taxi violence, intervention in arguments and hijackings.

“These are causative factors that are challenging for police to prevent, but the brotherhood, Ubuntu, and compassion for a fellow human being can prevent such murders,” Makoba said.

She added that despite Inanda, Umlazi, Esikhaleni and other police stations showing signs of improvement, she was concerned about increases at Cato Manor where 20 more murders were recorded.“We have instructed the management of the police station to address this situation before it gets out of hand,” she said.

Ntuzuma recorded an increase of 12 murder cases, whilst Empangeni was close with 11 more murders. The increase of eight murders in Plessislaer and seven murders in Vryheid was concerning. Makoba called for police-community partnership to be strengthened to prevent this upward trend.

“In most of these murders, a firearm was the weapon of choice for the perpetrators. Community members know people with illegal firearms but some of them choose to keep quiet. Let us expose criminals so that our communities can be safe,” she said.

Makoba said Gender-Based Violence (GBV) remains a thorn in the flesh of police officers and law-abiding citizens alike. Statistics show that rape has gone down by 1,3% which is a reduction of 24 cases. She said this can be attributed to concerted efforts in spreading awareness and the hefty sentences which were handed down to convicted rapists. Between April and June 2026, 1,820 women were raped in KZN.

“The reduction of 24 rape cases must just be a motivating factor, not an achievement that leads to complacency,” she said.For the past three years, KZN has been recording over 1,800 rape cases in the same quarter. The challenge is that the crime of rape either happens between people who know each other, or at places which are almost impossible for police officers to prevent the crime,” she said.

Makoba said 846 rape cases happened at the residences of either the perpetrator or the victim, followed by 266 cases which happened at public places such as recreational centres, parking lots, streets and abandoned buildings.

KwaDukuza police station reduced their rape cases by 21 cases, followed by Mountain Rise police station which recorded 13 fewer cases.Pongola, Empangeni and Plessislaer police stations recorded a decrease of rape cases by 10 cases each.

“Our rape hotspots for this quarter were Inanda with an increase of 31,6%, recording 24 more rape cases than the same period last year,” Makoba said.

Statistics revealed that Madadeni SAPS recorded an increase of 15 rape cases, KwaMakhutha SAPS increased by 13 more cases, Pietermaritzburg SAPS recorded rape increase of 12 cases, Ntuzuma SAPS went up with 11 rape cases, followed by SAPS Jozini and Sydenham which recorded double digits increases with 10 cases each.

Makoba said domestic violence related cases have once again been flagged as a major concern in the province. In the period under review, 32 women and 14 men died as a result of a domestic-related feud or altercation. The province also recorded 115 attempted murder cases related to domestic violence. Seventy-one of the victims were women, and 44 men.

According to police, domestic related feud often lead to destruction of property, and as a result, police in the province registered 881 cases of malicious damage to property emanating from domestic violence.

“We are calling for families to return to the traditional ways of resolving domestic conflicts. No amount of violence can solve any problem; instead, the concerned parties risk being arrested,” Makoba said.

The province recorded 9,282 cases of assault, covering both common assault and assault GBH, which is an increase of 8.3%. Out of that number,4,011 of those cases were domestic violence related.

All property crimes such as burglaries in residential and non-residential areas, as well as stock theft saw a reduction, most with double-digit percentage decreases.

The police stations which showed improvements in the fight against stock theft are Gluckstad which recorded a decrease of 29 cases. Ladysmith police station reduced stock theft by 20 cases. Police stations such as Impendle, Hlobane, Amangwe, Upper Tugela, Nongoma, Bergville and Dannhauser recorded double digits decreases of between 10 and 18 cases.

“Our stock theft officers will intensify operations at Taylor’s Halt, Inanda, Ingwavuma and Babanango police stations which recorded an increase of between 11 and 19 stock theft cases,” she said.

Between January and September 2026, police in KZN arrested 112,397 suspects for different crimes during Operation Shanela, other operations, as well as day to day policing. Among the arrested suspects were 11,235 undocumented foreign nationals. Police also recovered 2,487 firearms, and 29, 353 rounds of ammunition of various calibres of firearms.

Makoba said the success that police continue to achieve did not come without any challenges.“Although we did not lose any police officer in the line of duty during the 2025/2026 financial year, we however, lost 15 police officers off duty. In most cases off duty police officers are targeted because of police-related matters,” she said.

Makoba said 48 police officers were dismissed and or dishonourably discharged from the SAPS. She said they were working to regain the trust of the community and they will not achieve that when some of their own are reversing all the gains.

“We are doing the best we can to get rid of all disgraceful police officers who involve themselves in corruption and other criminal activities. Continue to expose corrupt police officers so that your beloved police service can be cleansed from within,” she said.

With just over a month away from the 2026 Local Government Elections, police are aware that KZN is known to be a politically charged environment. She said police will deploy sufficient resources to create safer communities in which residents of KZN will cast their votes safely, freely and peacefully.

“Police will be out in full force to create a safe environment for politicians and political parties to campaign freely. We are urging political parties to be tolerant of each other and compete without violence. Do not eliminate competition by killing each other, do not intimidate one another to gain the upper hand,” she said.

She said police are apolitical and they must not favour any party or independent candidate over the other. She said if the public sees a police officer taking sides and he or she is on duty, report that person and internal disciplinary processes will deal with them decisively.