Gang violence accounts for one in four murders in the Western Cape, police report

More than one in every four murders recorded in the Western Cape during the latest crime-reporting period was linked to gang initiation or gang-related violence, highlighting the continued grip of organised gangs on violent crime in the province.

According to South African Police Service crime statistics for July to September 2025, 293 murders, 25.3% of the 1 156 killings recorded during the quarter were linked to gang initiation or gang-related violence, making it the single largest identified cause of murder during the period.

Killings linked to arguments, misunderstandings or fights accounted for 231 murders (20.0%), while retaliation or revenge attacks were responsible for 153 murders (13.2%). Extortion-related murders, though lower in number, accounted for 25 killings, or 2.2%, during the same period.

The burden of gang-related killings remains heavily concentrated in the City of Cape Town. Of the 293 gang-related murders recorded across the Western Cape, 286 occurred in the metro, underscoring the persistent challenges faced by law enforcement and communities in gang-affected areas.

The pattern extends beyond fatal incidents. Police data shows that 302 attempted murders — 26.4% of all attempted murder cases recorded during the quarter  were linked to gang initiation or gang-related violence, reinforcing the role of gangs in driving serious violent crime.

In total, the Western Cape recorded 1 160 murders between July and September 2025, an increase of 97 cases, or 9.1%, compared with the same period the previous year. Firearms remained the most frequently used weapons, accounting for 60.6% of all murder cases, while most killings occurred in public places such as streets, open fields and parking areas.

Speaking at a media briefing, Western Cape Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General (Adv) Thembisile Patekile said police operations during the period had resulted in the arrest of 114 gang leaders and 116 gang members, along with 65 arrests linked to extortion and 125 arrests for kidnapping-related crimes.

Patekile said police had also seized 1 291 illegal firearms, 32 476 rounds of ammunition and 12 924 dangerous weapons, but warned that the circulation of illegal guns continued to fuel violence.

“The release from prison of parolees or completion of sentences, or in some cases where they are not convicted because they are instrumental within crime groupings, violence erupts, and as a result, in multiple matters, this manifests in gang extortion in taxi spaces,” he said.

Reacting to the figures, Western Cape Provincial Mec of Community Safety Anroux Marais said the statistics reflected the scale of the challenge facing the province.

“The crime stats for the first and second quarter of the financial year do not paint an encouraging picture about the crime situation in our province. While there are areas of progress that we must acknowledge, it is clear that we need to work much harder and much smarter to make the Western Cape safer.

"Violent crime, particularly murder remains at unacceptably high levels in our province. However, when we look deeper into the data, an important pattern emerges. In both the first and second quarters, murders decreased in our LEAP deployment areas while increasing sharply in the rest of the province.”

Marais also condemned attacks on on-duty law enforcement officials combating gangsterism and illegal firearms.

“We need a collective stance against gangsterism and violent crime. Police and government cannot win this fight alone.

"We need active support of citizens and communities to work with SAPS, LEAP, CPFs and neighbourhood watches.

"We need people to report crime and where the guns are and to stand with law enforcement. Not against them.”

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