Over 10k murder charges referred for prosecution in 2024/2025 financial year - Cachalia

Acting Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia said that just more than 10,000 murder charges were referred for prosecution in the 2024/2025 financial year alone.

But Cachalia said that there are interventions that have been agreed upon to improve the murder detection rate, like focusing on murder cases with forensic leads.

Cachalia was responding in a written parliamentary reply about what his department was doing in trying to mitigate the high murder rate in the country.

According to the latest quarterly crime statistics, murders decreased in South Africa during the first and second quarters of the 2025/26 financial year.

But the statistics still show how 63 people are murdered in the country every day, with more than 11,500 murders over the same time period.

In a written parliamentary reply this week, Cachalia said that 10,074 charges of murder have been referred for prosecution in the last financial year.

But Cachalia said there are interventions like the prioritisation of murder cases, with forensic investigative leads in cooperation with theSouth African Police Service (SAPS) Forensic Science Laboratory.

Cachalia also stated that there is the enhancement of tracing operations on wanted known suspects as a key element of operational Shanela II, which is a "weekly high-density operation" that is conducted in all high-crime station areas countrywide.

He said dedicated murder and robbery units will also be beefed up.

The recent quarterly statistics also showed how attempted murders and assaults with intent to cause grievous harm continue to be on the rise.