Written by: Ayman Ragab
South Africa’s Gauteng province saw a notable decrease of 15% in murders and 9.9% in rapes, but kidnappings increased by 1.6% and sexual assault by 5.2%.
Regional Police Commissioner Tommy Mthombini says Gauteng province has seen an overall decrease in crime rates across 17 categories reported by the community, although Gauteng accounts for 26% of these crimes reported nationally.
Decline in killing
During the presentation of Gauteng province's crime statistics for the last quarter of fiscal year 2025/2026, Mthumbini said the province had recorded a 15% decrease in homicides and a 9.9% decrease in rapes.
In contrast, kidnapping cases increased by 1.6%, while sexual assault cases increased by 5.2%.
Communication crimes, including assault and theft, decreased by 5.9%, representing 2,433 fewer cases compared to the same period last year.
Homicides decreased by 15% and attempted homicides by 3.2%.
quarrels and misunderstandings
Mthumbini said that murder cases are usually linked to quarrels, misunderstandings, road rage incidents, provocation, vigilance, and theft.
He stated: “The number of serious crimes reported by the community, which totaled 17, decreased by 5,066 cases, which translates to a decrease of 5.2% compared to the same period last year.”.
Despite this decrease, Gauteng province accounted for 26% of all serious crimes reported by the community and recorded across the country's nine provinces.
mob justice incidents
Mthumbini explained that mob justice incidents contributed to 74 murders, followed by robberies with 68 crimes, and then revenge attacks with 47 crimes.
Most of the 664 murders occurred in public places, while 215 occurred in residences.
Kidnappings increased by 38 cases, or 1.6%, to reach 2,452. Police reported that many of these cases were linked to car thefts. Gauteng province remains the country's kidnapping hotspot, with an average of about 27 incidents per day.
Increase in kidnappings
”The number of kidnappings increased by 1.6% during the period under review. This is a thorny issue, Mr. President, Members, Mr. Prime Minister.”
“While most kidnappings in the province are attributed to aircraft hijackings, our integrated, multidisciplinary intervention with the national E2 project to combat kidnapping and organized crime at the provincial level has enabled us to arrest 616 suspects during the period from January to March 2026.”
Mthumbeni added that Johannesburg recorded the highest number of communication crimes in the province, with 15,059 cases, followed by Ekurhuleni with 9,146 cases, and then Tshwane with 8,946 cases. Sidibing was the only area to register an increase, rising by 6.41 TP3T to 3,162 cases, while West Rand recorded 2,761 incidents.
