Cape Town's poorest communities are once again bearing the brunt of South Africa's violent crime crisis, as new figures lay bare the bloodbath unfolding in the city's townships.
Four of the country's five deadliest police precincts between January and March this year are located in the Mother City.
The South African Police Service SAPS released its fourth quarter crime statistics on Friday, painting a grim picture of escalating violence in areas like Delft, Mfuleni, Philippi East, and Nyanga. These communities, long plagued by systemic poverty, gangsterism, and a lack of policing resources, continue to dominate the national murder charts, as reported by Smile FM .
Topping the national list, however, is Inanda in KwaZulu-Natal, a region similarly scarred by violent crime and political tension. Of the Cape Town precincts, Philippi East, Delft, and Mfuleni have seen murder cases climb sharply this quarter. Nyanga, once dubbed South Africa's murder capital, has experienced a slight drop of 12.5-a flicker of hope, though still overshadowed by the city's broader crisis.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu confirmed that the Western Cape is one of four provinces with the highest murder rates, joining Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal. Only the Northern Cape saw a rise in killings this quarter, increasing by 2.