Saturday, 29 November 2025.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) notes the newly released crime statistics for quarter one and quarter two of the 2025/26 financial year, which have been long overdue and delayed due to the current instability within the South African Police Service (SAPS).

The numbers paint a grim national picture as always. In the first quarter of 2025/26, murders reached 5 770, meaning 64 people were killed every single day while attempted murders totalled 6 401, equal to 71 attempted killings per day. Assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) reached 37 569 cases, representing 417 violent attacks daily. Rape remained at horrifying levels, with 9 233 cases, or 103 women raped each day.

The second quarter shows no improvement, with murders increasing to 5 794, maintaining a daily death toll of 64, while attempted murders rose to 7 255, an increase that now puts the daily average at 81. Assault GBH climbed to 41 978 cases, equal to 466 violent attacks every day, and rape continued to escalate, reaching 10 154 reported cases, or 113 women raped per day.

Despite these statistics, SAPS still fails to provide the crucial breakdown of how women and children are affected, a section that has been removed from the reports since the final quarter of the 2024/25 financial year. This failure is unacceptable as it denies the nation the full truth, obscures the scale of violence against the most vulnerable, and further exposes the dysfunction that has come to characterise policing under the current administration.

The situation becomes even more troubling when examined alongside the revelations brought forward by Lieutenant General Mkhwanazi, the ongoing Ad Hoc Committee, and the Madlanga Commission exposing the deep infiltration, corruption and sabotage within our policing and intelligence structures. Investigations have already shown that key SAPS units have been compromised and manipulated, leaving the country with a police service that is fractured, politicised, and increasingly incapable of securing convictions, preventing crime or protecting the public. These structural failures help explain why violent crime remains rampant.

The crime statistics also reveal worrying regional patterns. While certain national indicators may suggest marginal improvement, murder rates have surged sharply in the Western Cape. The scale of the murders occurring in the City of Cape Town alone has reached proportions equivalent to a warzone, and yet there are still no interventions by the Democratic Alliance, let alone the national government. The time for action has been long overdue as these quarterly and yearly statistics should have been guiding the Ministry of Police to come up with adequate strategies to combat this problem.

These crime figures have told the same tragic story year after year, that without functional systems, properly trained officers, working laboratories, and accountable leadership, there can be no safety or justice. The EFF reiterates that crime cannot be reduced when the police service itself is infiltrated, compromised, and unstable. As long as SAPS leadership remains unaccountable and corrupt, and as long as powerful political interests continue to interfere in policing operations, crime will escalate and communities will suffer.

ISSUED BY ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Sinawo Thambo (National Spokesperson) 072 629 7422

Thembi Msane (National Spokesperson) 061 467 8169

Andiswa Madikazi (Parliament Media Liason) 069 516 4924

Thato Lebyane (Media Inquiries) 078 563 1581