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This infographic, titled "Rising murders on the Cape Flats," illustrates a concerning upward trend in reported murders within certain South African precincts, specifically comparing data from 2018 through 2025. The top bar chart shows that while total annual murders dipped to a low of 2,211 in 2020, they have risen steadily since, reaching 2,700 in 2024; notably, the 2,104 murders recorded just between January and September of 2025 already exceed the full nine-month counts of all previous years shown. Below the chart, a geospatial map highlights that this increase is geographically uneven. Areas like Mfuleni and Grassy Park show sharp increases (indicated in dark red), whereas precincts such as Belhar and Ravensmead have seen a decrease in murders (indicated in dark blue) when comparing the first nine months of 2018 to the same period in 2025.
Date 20 January 2026
Category Crime & Justice
Tags crimemurderCape TownCape Flats
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Police figures for October to December 2025 are not yet available, but in the first nine months of the year, 2,104 murders were reported to police stations on the Cape Flats. That’s a 20% increase since 2018, when 1,760 murders were reported between January and September.

Cape Town’s population has probably grown by a similar percentage based on census figures.

The Cape Flats’ suburbs are notoriously gang-ridden and face high youth unemployment. Murders on the Cape Flats make up 75% of all murders reported in the City of Cape Town district between January and September 2025.

The rise in murders shows a failure of the state to get the problem under control. This is despite a dedicated anti-gang unit and other strategic operations by SAPS, and additional law enforcement deployment by the provincial government and the City of Cape Town.

See the full story and statistics at GroundUp.