Premier Winde and Minister Marais on crime stats

Premier Winde & Minister Marais encouraged by quarterly crime statistics, but crime scourge still unacceptably high

Premier Alan Winde and Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety Anroux Marais have cautiously welcomed the decline in the province’s murder rate for the second quarter of the 2024/25 financial year.

The latest quarterly crime statistics, which cover the period from July to September 2024, revealed that the Western Cape recorded an 8.7% decrease in murder. Of the six provinces that saw a reduction in murder in this quarter, the Western Cape had the 4th largest reduction after the Northern Cape, Free State and Kwazulu-Natal.

“I commend every law enforcement official in our province, as well community-based groups such as Neighbourhood Watches and Community Policing Forums, who contributed to this decrease in serious and violent crime. You are the backbone of our safety network,. I am so proud of each and every one of you,” Minister Marais said.

Premier Winde added, “I am encouraged by the decrease in the murder rate. But crime levels, especially violent offences, remain intolerably high. My heart breaks for every resident who has fallen victim to crime. We must do everything we can to maintain this momentum in beating back this scourge. This includes building up partnerships across our crime-fighting network, further implementing strategies rooted in data and evidence, and adapting our approach to policing through the Memorandum of Understanding we have entered into with national government, the South African Police Service and the City of Cape Town. It is only through a coordinated, collaborative approach that we will be able to make our communities safer.”

The Premier stressed, “One of the most effective ways to root out crime is to also keep working to boost economic growth and create more jobs.”

The Minister cautioned against unrealistic expectations adding, “We have to keep in mind that this decrease is in comparison with the same period last year, when we saw significant violence associated with the minibus taxi strike. From time to time, the fluctuation in the Western Cape crime statistics creates an outlier, and July to September last year was such an outlier. I remain concerned that our crime levels are still unacceptably high. Now is not the time for complacency. We should take heart from the decrease in murder to redouble our efforts to further push down crime.”

Media Enquiries
Jan-Jan Joubert, MLO to Minister Marais
Cell: 083 303 9238
Email: Jan.Joubert@westerncape.gov.za  

Regan Thaw
MLO to Premier Winde
Cell: 083 627 7246
Email: Regan.Thaw@westerncape.gov.za