Gauteng recorded a notable decline in serious crime during the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, with police attributing the improvement to intensified law enforcement operations and stronger collaboration between government agencies and communities.
Presenting the province’s crime statistics for the period from 1 January to 31 March 2026, Gauteng Provincial Police Commissioner Tommy Mthombeni said overall community-reported serious crimes decreased by 5.2%, representing 5,066 fewer cases compared to the same period last year.
Speaking before the Gauteng Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Community Safety, Mthombeni said most categories of the 17 community-reported serious crimes showed a downward trend, with only arson and commercial crime registering increases. Gauteng continues to account for 26% of all community-reported serious crime nationally.
Contact crimes, which include murder, attempted murder, assault and aggravated robbery, declined by 5.9%, while murder decreased by 15% and attempted murder by 3.2%. Police identified arguments, misunderstandings, road rage, vigilantism and robbery as the leading causes of murder in the province.
Despite the improvements, Mthombeni expressed concern over attacks on police officers, revealing that two officers were killed while off duty during the quarter under review.
Sexual offences also showed mixed results. Reported rape cases declined by 9.9%, while sexual assault cases increased by 5.2%. The Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units secured significant convictions during the period, presenting 1,287 cases before court. A total of 128 sexual offenders received sentences amounting to 19 life terms and 109 years’ imprisonment.
Aggravated robbery statistics reflected a positive trend, with carjacking incidents declining by 17.1%. However, kidnappings increased slightly by 1.6%, with many cases linked to vehicle hijackings. Police said coordinated anti-kidnapping operations led to the arrest of 616 suspects between January and March.
Property-related crime recorded one of the largest improvements, falling by 9.7%. Offences such as residential and business burglaries, vehicle theft, theft from vehicles and stock theft all declined during the reporting period.
Crimes detected through police action increased by 12.5%, a trend police described as positive because it reflects proactive law enforcement activity. The category includes drug-related offences, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, driving under the influence and sexual offences detected through police operations.
Mthombeni highlighted the impact of Operation Shanela 2 and the Integrated Governmental Response programme, which resulted in 36,122 arrests during the quarter. Among those arrested were 11,715 undocumented immigrants, 155 suspects linked to murder cases, 220 robbery suspects and 6,726 individuals arrested for drug-related offences.
Police also recovered 278 firearms, nearly 8,000 rounds of ammunition, 163 hijacked or stolen vehicles, 1,630 kilograms of drugs and more than 313,000 counterfeit or illicit goods. Authorities further shut down 1,205 illegal liquor outlets and seized 83,770 litres of alcohol.
The commissioner also highlighted successes in the fight against gang-related crime. Four suspects — Garth van Wyk, Lerul Rankow, Leon Breda and Marti Breda — were sentenced by the Johannesburg High Court to three life terms and an additional 24 years’ imprisonment for crimes including murder, attempted murder and unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition committed in Langlaagte and Sophiatown in 2023.
Mthombeni credited the progress to collaboration between law enforcement agencies, government departments, private sector partners and communities.
“The whole-of-government approach remains the future of policing within this province,” he said, urging continued cooperation under the Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy as Gauteng pushes forward with its campaign slogan, “#CrimeMustFall.”
