Crime stats: These are provinces with the highest murder, rape and carjacking in SA
SAPS’s crime statistics for April to June 2026 show Gauteng recorded the most murders and carjackings, while KwaZulu-Natal had the highest number of reported rape cases. Population-based rates, however, were highest in the Eastern Cape for both murder and rape.
According to South Africa's latest quarterly crime statistics for the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Western Cape continue to bear the brunt of the country's most serious violent crimes. Gauteng recorded the highest number of murders with 1,276 cases, while KwaZulu-Natal reported the most rape cases with 1,820 incidents.
Carjacking also declined nationally by 18.2%, but Gauteng remained the country's carjacking capital with 2,207 incidents, accounting for 57.9% of all reported carjackings. Despite a slight decline in national rape cases by 32 compared to the same period last year, KwaZulu-Natal still recorded the highest number of rape cases. The Eastern Cape had the highest murder rate at 15.8 per 100,000 people, followed by Limpopo at 2.6 per 100,000 people. The province with the lowest murder rate was Limpopo.
Written by urgent.news from IOL's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
