NMB murder hotspots — Five areas among the worst in SA

The latest police statistics, released by Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on Friday, 23 May, paint a grim picture of crime in Nelson Mandela Bay and the Eastern Cape, where 1,020 murders were recorded between January and March 2025.

Among the police stations where the most murder cases were registered are Kwazakhele (sixth), New Brighton (eighth), Motherwell (17th), KwaNobuhle (19th), and KwaDwesi (21st).

The Eastern Cape still has the highest murder rate in the country at 15.4 per 100,000 people.

The Democratic Alliance’s Yusuf Cassim said combining quarterly stats for the 2024/25 financial year, 4,804 people were murdered in the Eastern Cape – an average of 13 lives lost every day.

The province also has the highest rate for rape cases opened in South Africa, with a ratio of 24.7 per 100,000 people.

Kidnappings have increased by 6.3%, with 235 cases reported, including 13 incidents involving ransom demands.

Residential robberies are also on the rise, with 617 households targeted in just three months. Stock theft is up by 8.5%, with 1,628 cases reported. 

Read more: ‘Five of six farm murder victims were black’ — Police Minister Senzo Mchunu rubbishes Trump’s white genocide lies

Underscoring the extent of crime in the metro, it is notable that the police stations in the Northern Areas, where gang violence is rife, did not even make the country’s Top 30 list for murder dockets opened – despite the Portfolio Committee on Police stating earlier this month that the crisis there is so severe that “unusual police tactics” are necessary.

“We do not deny that the levels of crime in the country are high – we are very concerned. Crime cuts across all divides,” Mchunu said on Friday at the release of the latest crime statistics. 

“We are currently intensifying the fight against crime and criminals. The crime stats we are presenting today will show progress; we commend and encourage the SAPS to fight on and harder. We will win,” Mchunu said.

“The crime statistics are based on crimes that get reported, and we see a decline in various categories of crime as will be reported today. We note that there is more crime in terms of daily lived experience and a feeling of vulnerability. It is for this reason that we are adjusting our methods of fighting crime and adapting to the new trends and threats out there,” he added.

Read more: Hundreds of crime victims and community leaders turn up to speak to Minister Mchunu

At the portfolio committee hearing earlier this month, evidence was presented showing that more than 1,000 people had died as result of gang violence in the metro’s Northern Areas alone since 2019.

Members from all political parties expressed their deep concern about the ineffectiveness of conventional policing methods in the face of escalating organised crime. 

“The committee agreed that SAPS’s current strategies were failing to dismantle gangs or restore safety to communities under siege,” the committee announced after the hearing, also noting that despite the available data high-crime stations remained under-resourced, and the anti-gang unit was being underutilised. 

“The lack of intelligence-led operations and technological innovation in policing efforts was highlighted as a major weakness.

“The committee stressed that the situation in Nelson Mandela Bay mirrored similar challenges faced on the Cape Flats and in Eldorado Park, and reiterated the need for a strategic shift to unconventional, intelligence-driven, and community-responsive policing,” it said.

Read more: Police minister announces talks for law reform to ban gang membership, after murder of young policeman 

Heartbreaking plea

2023: 

• Kurtley Rossouw died after being hit by a stray bullet;


• Larrigan Finnis, a promising soccer player, died after being shot in the back;


• Sophie Erasmus (89) was tied up, beaten and murdered in her house; and


• Verushka Nel (19) was shot dead in an apparent hit.

2024

• Three-year-old Emilio Hutchinson, his grandmother and a family friend were shot dead in their Helenvale house;


• Two teenagers were shot and killed in Bethelsdorp;


• In a separate incident, four men were shot and killed at a house in Bethelsdorp;


• Katelin de Vos (22) was killed by a stray bullet in Bethelsdorp;


• Charlene Malgas (23), who was nine months’ pregnant, was gunned down in Helenvale; and


• Constable Callan Andrews was murdered while on duty in Helenvale.