Police reveal 30 most dangerous areas in South Africa, 71 people are killed everyday (SEE LIST)

The latest crime statistics have revealed that KwaZulu-Natal is the country’s most deadly province.

Two of the province’s police stations recorded the highest number of murders between April and June this year. KwaZulu-Natal is followed by the Western Cape and Gauteng.

This was revealed by the South African Police Service (SAPS) after the organisation published the latest crime statistics for the first quarter of 2022/23 – representing crime data for April to June 2022.

While crime levels remained relatively flat in the quarter compared to the same period the year before – up slightly by 1.1% for reported community crimes – some crime categories showed alarming increases.

This included murder, with police data showing an 11.5% increase in the crime year on year.

Police minister Bheki Cele said that the increase in murders in the country is “worrisome”.

A total of 284 dockets were opened where two or more people died at a time between April and June, which included the recent spate of tavern shootings.

In this period, 664 murders were recorded for those dockets.

As many as 6,424 people were killed by other persons in South Africa in the first quarter of 2022/2023 financial year – an increase of 664 people murdered a year ago when the country was placed under Covid-19 lockdown level one and two, Cele said.

When averaged over the 91 days between April and June, that’s 71 people murdered in the country every day.

The SAPS noted that this equates to 11 murders per 100,000 people in South Africa for the three-month period – a rate which has steadily increased over the years, from eight per 100,000 in 2018.

The Eastern Cape has the highest murder per 100,000 population ratio at 18, followed by KwaZulu Nata at 14 and the Western Cape close behind at 13.8.

Within the statistics, a breakdown was given of multiple murders. This is where two or more people are murdered in a single incident.

KwaZulu-Natal recorded 84 multiple murders involving 205 victims, followed by Gauteng with 75 incidents in which 175 people were killed, and the Eastern Cape with 54 dockets opened for 117 victims.

During this time, both the Western Cape and KZN each recorded an incident in which six people were killed.

Gauteng recorded eight incidents where four people were murdered while in KZN, four people were murdered on six different occasions.

In the incident where six people were killed in the Western Cape, police said the murders were possibly linked to retaliation.

This was the same for the six people killed in KZN when unknown men stormed into a home during a cleansing ceremony.

Of the 6,424 people killed, 1,623 of them died in KwaZulu-Natal. Nine of its police stations also rank among the top 30, for the high rate of murders reported.

Ten of the police stations are in the Western Cape and eight are in Gauteng.

Head of police statistics major-general Norman Sekhukhune said: “The number one and two are Umlazi and Plessislaer, three is Mthatha station in the Eastern Cape, four is Inanda in KwaZulu-Natal, and five is Delft in the Western Cape”.

After KwaZulu-Natal, the second highest number of murders – 1,490 – were recorded in Gauteng, followed by 1,200 in the Eastern Cape.

Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape are the only provinces to report reductions in the murder rate.

The table below outlines the 30 worst precincts in the country for murder.