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In 2024, there were 26,232 murders reported to the police – an average of 72 murders a day, according to crime statistics released by the South African police service. This is an improvement on the past two years, when more than 27,000 murders were reported and the daily average was 74 murders a day.
The four most populous provinces reported the highest number of murders in 2024: Gauteng (6,314 murders), KwaZulu-Natal (5,835), Eastern Cape (4,943) and Western Cape (4,511). Gauteng averaged 17 murders a day and KwaZulu-Natal average 16 a day.
The Eastern Cape and Western Cape had the highest murder rate per capita. In 2024, the murder rate in the Eastern Cape was 69 murders per 100,000 people, the Western Cape’s was 60 per 100,000. Both are much higher than the national murder rate of 42 per 100,000 people.
The latest police crime stats were for the third quarter of 2025. This period covers October to December 2024. The Outlier has calculated the murder numbers for 2024 (January to December) from previous quarterly crime stats released.
Get the data used in this chart on DataDesk
The four most populous provinces reported the highest number of murders in 2024: Gauteng (6,314 murders), KwaZulu-Natal (5,835), Eastern Cape (4,943) and Western Cape (4,511). Gauteng averaged 17 murders a day and KwaZulu-Natal average 16 a day.
The Eastern Cape and Western Cape had the highest murder rate per capita. In 2024, the murder rate in the Eastern Cape was 69 murders per 100,000 people, the Western Cape’s was 60 per 100,000. Both are much higher than the national murder rate of 42 per 100,000 people.
The latest police crime stats were for the third quarter of 2025. This period covers October to December 2024. The Outlier has calculated the murder numbers for 2024 (January to December) from previous quarterly crime stats released.