SAPS crime stats: Carjackings and robberies decline, GBVF rises

Acting Police Minister Professor Firoz Cachalia released the crime statistics for the period April to June 2026 in Pretoria on Friday.

The SAPS has recorded notable decreases in several of the country's most serious contact crimes between April and June 2026.

Firoz Cachalia, Acting Minister of Police, released the statistics on Friday in Pretoria.

He said the SAPS have also seen significant reductions in crimes such as carjacking, residential robberies , business robberies and cash-in-transit robberies.

“These are the crimes that create fear in our communities. Many are committed by organised, heavily armed criminal groups that operate with planning and sophistication,” he said.

He said other crimes are interpersonal, often committed by people known to their victims. They reflect deeper challenges in the social fabric and a breakdown of trust and relationships in communities. Cachalia said a relatively small number of policing precincts account for a disproportionate amount of violent crime.

“This reinforces our commitment to deploying resources where they are needed most and ensuring that operational decisions are increasingly driven by crime intelligence and evidence rather than assumptions. These statistics therefore tell us two important things simultaneously: progress is possible, but our work is far from complete,” he said.

Cachalia said seeing sustained declines across these categories demonstrates that intelligence-led policing, targeted operations and improved collaboration between law enforcement agencies are beginning to have an impact, while also underscoring the importance of broader social interventions to address the root causes of violence.

Cachalia said we are also concerned about crime categories that have increased during the reporting period, particularly those affecting women, children, and other vulnerable members of society. Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) continues to demand urgent attention from every sector of society.

He said the month of August is celebrated as Women’s Month. Cachalia said the protection of women, children, and other vulnerable persons remains a national policing priority requiring sustained investment and prevention, victim support, investigation and prosecution.

Cachalia said among the key resolutions adopted was the need to strengthen coordination between national, provincial and local government, enhance intelligence capabilities, improve detective services, accelerate the fight against organised crime, extortion, illegal mining and gang-related violence, and ensure that resources are directed towards identified crime hotspots.

“Crime cannot be addressed in silos. Every sphere of government has a role to play, and we must all be aligned behind a common objective,” Cachalia said.

Cachalia said the SAPS will prioritise interventions in 140 high-crime police station precincts across the country.