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Cape Flats Murders Are on the Rise

Some areas have improved, but the overall picture is grim

Police figures for October to December 2025 are not yet available, but in the first nine months of the year, 2,104 murders were reported to police stations on the Cape Flats. That’s a 20% increase since 2018, when 1,760 murders were reported between January and September.

Cape Town’s population has probably grown by a similar percentage based on census figures.

The Cape Flats’ suburbs are notoriously gang-ridden and face high youth unemployment. Murders on the Cape Flats make up 75% of all murders reported in the City of Cape Town district between January and September 2025.

The rise in murders shows a failure of the state to get the problem under control. This is despite a dedicated anti-gang unit and other strategic operations by SAPS, and additional law enforcement deployment by the provincial government and the City of Cape Town.

Police Station 2025 (Jan-Sep) 2018 (Jan-Sep) % change
Mfuleni 221 126 75
Delft 196 171 15
Nyanga 169 225 -25
Philippi East 166 137 21
Gugulethu 153 128 20
Harare 142 120 18
Khayelitsha 127 187 -32
Mitchells Plain 121 114 6
Samora Machel 106 103 3
Bishop Lavis 98 93 5
Lingelethu-West 69 52 33
Ravensmead 63 93 -32
Langa 60 40 50
Manenberg 58 42 38
Philippi 57 62 -8
Grassy Park 55 32 72
Elsies River 52 59 -12
Lentegeur 52 45 16
Athlone 26 17 53
Belhar 24 34 -29
Macassar 18 17 6
Strandfontein 4 5 -20

Chart produced by The Outlier in partnership with GroundUp.

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