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- Murders reported between July-September are 2024’s highest
- But they are 5.8% lower than for the same period last year
- This year could have the lowest murder count since 2021
A 5.8% drop in murders reported to the SAPS was announced this week. While we all need good news, it’s helpful to take a longer-term view.
The crime stats follow the SAPS’s financial year, which starts in April. This means Q1 covers April to June, while Q2 is July to September. Change is tracked by comparing the same period over two concurrent years. So in Q2 2024, murders decreased by 5.8% compared with Q2 last year.
This quarter’s murder stats are the highest this year: January to March had 6,536 murders, April to June had 6,198, and July to September had 6,545. But this quarter has recorded the lowest Q2 numbers since 2021: 6,945 murders in 2023, 7,004 in 2022 and 6,163 in 2021.
So far this year to September, 19,279 murders were reported. Unless December is particularly violent, we are on track to record the first decrease in murders since Covid.
— 28 November, 2024Subscribe to the weekly newsletter for more charts like this
