Crime Stats 2023: South Africa’s murder hotspots revealed

Police Minister Bheki Cele released the quarterly crime stats on Tuesday morning, showing a spike in murder and assault cases in South Africa.

Here’s where you are most likely to be murdered.

Crime Stats Q4 2022/2023

Between January and March 2023, Cele says 6,289 people lost their lives due to violent acts involving firearms, knives, sharp and blunt instruments, stones, and even bare hands.

As per the crime stats, this is a 3.4% increase when compared to the same period last year.

The provinces most affected by the this surge in murders were KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Western Cape and Gauteng.

Murder hotspots in South Africa

Police stations in KZN dominate the ‘murder hotspots’ list, followed closely by Gauteng and Western Cape.

Umlazi police station in KZN had the most reported murders – 68 recorded cases between January and March 2023.

Inanda, also in KZN, followed closely behind with 64 cases.

Delft in the Western Cape was third on the list with 60 reported murders, followed by Plessislaer in KZN with 57, and Orange Farm in Gauteng with 48 cases.

Umlazi, however, also showed the biggest improvement compared to the previous quarter, when a 103 murders were reported.

Avoid of Bethelsdorp and Roodepoort

The police station with the biggest spike was Bethelsdorp in the Eastern Cape and Roodepoort in Gauteng.

Both stations reported an increase of 22 cases:

Roodepoort recorded 20 cases during this period last year, and 42 cases during the current quarter.

Meanwhile, Bethelsdorp jumped from 19 murders last year to 41 confirmed cases this year.

READ: Public safety crisis: 69% of South Africans grapple with fear of crime

Causative factors in murder hotspots

Cele said the causes for most of these murders were arguments, vigilantism, and robberies.

KwaZulu-Natal also had the highest figures of multiple-murder cases with the Eastern Cape following closely.

In contrast, the Free State, Northern Cape, and Western Cape reported decreases in murder rates.

Cele said a total of R65 million has been allocated to the top 30 crime-heavy police stations to combat murder and other contact crimes.