Crime stats: These are provinces with the highest murder, rape and carjackings in SA

Crime stats show that Gauteng leads murders and carjackings, KZN rape cases.

South Africa's latest quarterly crime statistics have revealed that Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape continue to bear the brunt of the country's most serious violent crimes , with Gauteng recording the highest number of murders and carjackings, while KwaZulu-Natal reported the most rape cases.

On Friday, the South African Police Service (SAPS) released its crime statistics for the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year, covering crimes reported between April and June 2026.

While murders, rapes and carjackings all declined nationally compared with the same period last year, thousands of South Africans continued to fall victim to violent crime.

Although the national murder count fell by 5.9%, from 5,770 to 5,427 cases , Gauteng recorded the highest number of murders in the country with 1,276 cases during the three-month period.

KwaZulu-Natal followed with 1,179 murders, while the Western Cape recorded 1,071 and the Eastern Cape 1,047.

Nationally, Gauteng accounted for nearly a quarter of all murders reported in South Africa during the quarter.

When measured against population size, the picture changes significantly.

The Eastern Cape recorded the highest murder rate in the country at 15.8 murders per 100,000 people, followed by:

Limpopo recorded the country's lowest murder rate at just 2.6 per 100,000 people.

SAPS recorded 9,201 rape cases nationally during the quarter, a slight decline of 32 cases compared with the same period last year.

KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest number of rape cases with 1,820, followed by:

KwaZulu-Natal alone accounted for almost one in every five rape cases reported nationally.

Per capita figures show the Eastern Cape has the country's highest rape rate at 22.3 cases per 100,000 people.