Crime stats reveal another decrease in Western Cape murder rate
18 August 2023
The release of the first quarter crime statistics, April – June 2023 revealed that the Western Cape recorded a 5,5% reduction in the murder rate. This is a consecutive decrease, given that during the 4th quarter of the previous financial year’s the province also recorded a 14,1% reduction for the period. This is a decrease of 55 murders from 994 murders during the first quarter of the 2022/23 financial year to 939.
In addition to this, it also confirmed earlier sentiments that murder in the Law Enforcements Advancement Plan (LEAP) areas decreased by 5.7% from 494 cases in 2022/23 to 466 in 2023/24, when compared with the same period of the previous year. The areas where LEAP is deployed are Delft, Gugulethu, Harare, Khayelitsha (Site B policing precinct), Kraaifontein, Mfuleni, Mitchells Plain, Nyanga, Philippi East, and Samora Machel. Other high crime areas in which they are deployed are Atlantis, Bishop Lavis and Hanover Park, along with Lavender Hill, Steenberg and Grassy Park. These statistics demonstrate that while crime is still conerningly high, the Western Cape Government’s Safety Plan is making a difference, and that the deployment of LEAP officers has an impact in the areas served.
Decreases in homicides were recorded in the following areas in which LEAP officers are deployed:
- Atlantis (14,3%),